Of Vices and Virtues
by Janelle Howard
Summary: Claudia Walker created the perfect facade she had a simple life, a simple job. There was nothing remarkable about her. Until two men offer her the chance to do something with her powers to stop a war looming on the horizon. In a fight between good and evil, loyalties strain and relationships grow. The world's changing for better and worse, and Claudia is right in the middle of it.
1. The Queen of Hearts

**_AN: This idea has been stuck in my head for months now and if I didn't get out it would've drove me crazy. Anyway, I hope you enjoy the first chapter of this story._**

 ** _Disclaimer: I do not own X-Men just the OCs in the story._**

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The music started up, with the sultry tango beats of "Whatever Lola Wants" by Sarah Vaughn. Her colorful voice lit like a spark in the air, and with it, the seductive lyrics of the song. The air seemed to crackle as I spun away from my dance partner, but a strong hand ripped me back into his grasp. With glittering eyes I pressed myself against him, his hand tenderly slipping over my back. We side-stepped as the singer continued to croon the audience with her hypnotic lyrics.

" _Whatever Lola wants, Lola gets,"_

" _And_ _silly_ _man, Lola_ _wants you_ ," I sung to the man, who was completely entranced.

He stopped dancing to trace along my curvy figure slowly, extracting a long breath from my lips. He rejoined my hands smoothing his over my fingers. I crossed my left foot seductively in front of the right, while cocking my head mischievously to side. He smiled and placed his right hand dangerously low on my back. Before he could change direction again, I elevated my right foot, kicking it behind me, and situated behind his right leg, coquettishly hooking around his toned calf. I smirked, savoring the attention I was getting from my dance partner and the men who were watching me dance.

The man copied me by kicking his right leg between the middle of my two. He was daring, and he pressed my chest into his.

" _I always get what I aim for. And your heart and soul is what I came for,"_

The song finished up and I pulled away from him, creating space between us, "You may go now, I've had my fun," I instructed, trailing my index finger up over the man's tie.

He nodded and shuffled off of the dance floor. I made my way off of the dance floor, to order another drink. It was Saturday night, and the nightlife was at it's height. I took my seat on the bar stool, signalling for the bartender to pour me another drink. I grabbed my clutch that was hiding underneath the chair and opened it, pulling out a compact mirror.

I looked at my reflection, my eyes were a brilliant almond shape, with dark brown irises that held knowledge and wisdom beyond my years. My lashes were long, dark, and thick and my lips were red with lipstick, but full and perfect. My wide nose curved in a delicate slope and I could clearly see my defined cheekbones. I combed my fingers through my hair making sure that every hair was in place and checking that my makeup hadn't smudged. I snapped my mirror shut and placed back it back into my purse.

I had always known I was different since I was a child. I always felt out of place. I never blamed my parents for that. They loved me and they always did what they thought was the best for me. Well, at least what was good for them I suppose.

It was at the age of eighteen when I left my home, leaving my past in Pennsylvania far behind me. My memories from there were unpleasant, to say the least, and I needed to leave. To start a new life elsewhere, in central New York. Money was never a problem, I had a decent paying job as a psychologist's assistant at a private practice and a well furnished apartment. But I still found myself drinking away my sorrows. At this point in my life, I had to every reason to be happy, but I knew deep down I wasn't. There was always that loneliness, biting at my insides.

Someone cleared their throat next to my ear, something I wasn't all to fond of.

I glanced at them, raising an eyebrow, "Something I can do for you, stranger?" I asked, barely masking my annoyance.

He smiled, and I made a note to admire it. He was pretty handsome it, but he was overly cocky, I could tell by the way he made himself comfortable next to me, leaning forward and resting his elbows on the bar, and getting way too into my personal space. Not to mention he was easily in his mid forties. I had just turned twenty-two, fucking creep, I thought to myself.

"Michael, my name is Michael, Mike for short. You can help me by maybe letting me buy you a drink,"

I raised an eyebrow at this, he moved pretty fast. He must do this all the time to women he thought were drunk. Too bad for him, it took me more then a couple of drinks to have lost my common sense. Pushing my shoulder length, curled black hair out of my face. I faced him to reply as two other men approached, I didn't want any trouble, but the audacity of the man made my blood boil.

"And what do you expect in return for this drink?"

He smiled and leaned in closer to me, placing a hand on my thigh.

 _"The bastard thought he was in, didn't he?" I thought._

"Well, maybe just a friend," he smirked.

I rolled my eyes and smiled lightly at him, leaning in until our lips barely touched.

"With you? I'd rather watch the grass grow," I replied dryly, eying him up and down, as if he was something I'd find on the bottom of my shoe. "My mama didn't raise me to accept drinks from men I barely know, and my daddy taught me how to break a hand in seven different places, so remove it or I'll do it for you, _Mike_ ," I punctuated my sentence by grasping his middle finger in my fist and slowly bending it back, until I heard the pop that let me knew I dislocated it. "Next time I'll break it,"

"You bitch-" He began, but was interrupted mid-word by me.

"Run along, before I make you gouge out your eyes with a butter knife," I commanded boredly, putting effort into making my words go through the older man's head. The man walked away dutifully and I smirked, "There's a good boy," I cooed, turning away from him and took a sip of my vodka martini.

I heard a chuckle of laughter behind me, causing me to turn around again and examine the new arrivals behind me. The two men who I saw previously were now directly behind me, they appeared to be in their early thirties or late twenties. Despite being slightly tipsy, I couldn't help but gape a little when I properly looked at the two men.

The taller of the two had his thick and muscled arms crossing themselves in front of his broad chest. Clad in a short navy trench coat over a pair of long, black pants and a black turtleneck, his perfectly slicked back hair was the ultimate factor that completed the dangerous, rugged look he was probably going for. He looked like a mafia member, or something.

His icy blue eyes were fixed onto my wandering brown eyes unflinchingly, as a dark brow rose to mock me, to tell me that he had seen me appraising his impressive form. I raised my eyebrow and smirked saucily before I turned my gaze away from the taller man and shifted it to the other one, now standing directly in front of me.

Unlike Mr. Mafia Man and his dark attire, this man was significantly more professional looking. With his sharp pressed grey blazer jacket, a white button up shirt worn inside, the matching dark grey pants and his polished shoes, this guy pretty much screamed 'successful businessman'. He, along with the other man had sharp masculine features – sharp nose, strong, angular jaw line, the clearest blue eyes I have ever seen. His eyes were so blue they resembled crystals, and were framed by his dark brows. His short, dark hair was tousled casually.

"Your quite clever," the shorter man complimented, with a thick British accent.

"So I've been told, but I've done nothing tonight that would warrant such a compliment," I replied, looking at the man as I lifted my glass to my lips, taking another sip of my martini.

"I think you have, actually. The song, 'Whatever Lola Wants', it fits you," the man remarked.

I raised an eyebrow in confusion, although I had an inkling to know where this was going, "How so?" I asked curiously, tilting my head slightly.

"Has anyone told you that you have an excellent mutation?" the shorter man asked abruptly, a small smile on his face.

"Mutation? You call every woman you meet a mutant?" I snorted, widening my eyes and let out a chuckle that matched my expression, disbelief. "Wow! This must be the night, where the worst pick up lines are thrown at me," I drawled, before taking another sip of my drink. "I'm sorry to tell you this, but I am just me. I am _normal_ ," I laughed, and the taller man just huffed annoyed.

The shorter man smiled at me, then I noticed that his fingers were pressed onto his temple and he was still looking at me. I frowned at the slight nudge in my head. It didn't hurt, but it was very irritating. I focused on strengthening my shield against the nudges. I felt the nudge grow stronger, it was attacking my shield before it finally gave up and left.

The man looked mildly surprised and my mouth turned into a small frown. I really didn't know why he was surprised. Unless.

 _Mutant._

I glared angrily at him, "I don't know who the hell you are, but stay out of my head!" I snarled. "You have no right!"

I always thought I was alone, that quickly changed only a couple years ago, but ever since that encounter...well I'm uneasy around other mutants, my own mutation was something I kept to myself, only select people in my family knew about it even.

He put his hands up in surrender, "You're right, my apologies. But how? No one has ever been able to feel me before. Are you a telepath?" he asked, studying me with curiosity shining through his eyes.

"No, I'm just highly aware of myself and those around me," I answered with a slight growl, slamming my glass down on the counter nearly breaking it. "You have your tricks, I have mine," I added, glaring at him.

"My name is Charles Xavier," the man introduced in an irritatingly friendly tone. "And this," he said, gesturing to the other man, "Is Erik Lehnsherr. We're like you. We're different. And we need your help. We are-"

"Is there a private place where we could talk?" Erik interjected hastily in a strong German accent, looking mad and broody, as he looked from one side to the next.

I didn't particularly want to know what, if anything at all, they were to offer. I sat there in silent for a few seconds, first looking at Charles, then at Erik, then back at Charles. If this was a game, it certainly wasn't funny in the least.

"Why should I even try to talk to you two? The first thing Mr. Xavier says to me is that I have a mutation and then he follows that up by trying to intrude my thoughts," I argued. "It has been a long and trying night gentlemen, and I'm over it. So, I'm going to try and scavenge what little fun I can find," I concluded, flashing them a faux smile just as a saxophone moaned through the opening of "I Put a Spell on You" by Screamin' Jay Hawkins.

"What do you know, my favorite song," I added grinning, and shook my head beginning to walk away from the two men, only to be stopped by Erik gripping my arm tightly. I leveled him with an icy stare, "Let go of me right now, or I will make you feel pain that you thought was unimaginable," my voice low and threatening.

"Erik..." Charles called warningly.

Erik loosened his grip, freeing my arm slightly, but he made it clear I wasn't going anywhere, "We know you know exactly what you are, and we know what you're capable of. Stop playing coy with us," Erik stated coldly.

"Two strange white men walk into a bar, approach a black woman and accuses her of being a mutant. Forgive me, but you expect me not to find that a bit suspicious," I sassed, before yanking my arm completely out of his grip. I spotted a booth occupied by two men and I walked towards the two men, I gently grasped their chins and looked them in the eyes. "Due to your undying love for me, you two are going to give up your seats," I demanded, manipulating their desires so they reflected my own wishes.

"Of course," one man said eagerly, sliding out of his seat.

"Your wish is my command," the other man stated, getting out of his seat as well.

"Hmm, I know," I smiled, lightly laughing. "Now leave me be," I commanded, shooing them away and the two men nodded their heads and kissed the back of my hands before their departure.

I looked over to Erik and Charles, to see Erik roll his eyes in annoyance and huff as he whispered something to Charles, who's expression was unreadable. Charles and Erik sat in the seat across from me, Erik sat a stiff as a board while Charles seemed relaxed.

I interlocked my fingers together, "Ah, now that is how a gentlemen should behave. I think you should learn from them, Mr. Lehnsherr," I suggested my lips curving into a smirk.

Erik scowled at me, "You never told us your name," Erik stated irritated.

"You never asked, Mr. Lehnsherr. Maybe if Mr. Xavier, greeted me properly, you would know," I countered, looking between the two men. "Although, something tells me that you two already know," I added, arching my brow and leaning forward.

"Miss...Claudia Walker, am I right?" Charles asked.

I quickly glanced at Erik and it seemed like he had one eye concentrated on me whilst the other was focused at the crowd in the club.

I focused back on Charles, "You would be correct," I replied, lapsing back into an easy lean. "How exactly did you two find me?" I asked curiously.

"Well, I was in Cerebro-" Charles began.

"Cerebro?" I interjected, scrunching my eyebrows together in confusion.

"It's a machine that helps me locate people like us," Charles explained, he was way too excited to answer my question. He was almost bubbling with excitement. "I was surprised to find you. Your signature was so strong, powerful, which intrigued me. I quickly got your coordinates and here we are," Charles finished happily.

"You certainly didn't make it easy," Erik mentioned, in a slight annoyed tone.

"Hardly, you two are here now aren't you?" I questioned, my tone was playful and I could tell that it was grating Erik's nerves.

"Really? So my eyes weren't playing tricks on me yesterday?" He questioned, as he leaned forward slightly.

"Depends on what you saw," I quipped, a small smile beginning to show.

"I saw you start that brawl. The way your hand curled and your eyes narrowed, you made that skinny man kick the fat, bald one in his groin," Erik remarked, his own mouth curving as he smirked. "You nearly got us entangled in that predicament," he added, looking at me with his piercing eyes.

Not looking away I smiled dangerously, "Yeah that was me," I admitted with a shrug. "I had an inkling that was someone was following me yesterday, I just didn't know it was you two. _Whoops_ ," I commented, my voice dripping with sarcasm and shrugged my shoulders again.

"Well, speaking of powers, you know my power. And we would very much like to know all about yours, Miss Walker," Charles started.

"Please, call me Claudia," I started. "I'll demonstrate my powers, but Mr. Grumpy over there has to show me his first," I proposed, flicking my chin out, motioning towards Erik.

Erik's eyes met were now fully focused on me again and I returned his stare.

Charles smiled and leaned forward, his elbows on the table, "Erik has the ability to manipulate metal,"

I narrowed my eyes at Erik and he glared at me in return. He would be very powerful, even with the tiniest bit of metal he would be able to kill someone with the flick of his hand.

"What's that old phrase again?" I asked aloud, tilting my head up as if I was pondering the question. "Oh, that's right. Seeing is believing," I finished, looking back at Erik, raising my eyebrow in challenge.

Erik raised his eyebrows as well, before focusing his eyes on the cutlery in front of him. Nothing happened for a while before they started shaking and eventually they lifted off the table. My eyebrows raised as I stared at the floating knives and forks.

"Do you believe now?" Erik asked, and I could see a ghost of a smirk.

"Well, I'll be damned," I gasped smirking, as I watched the utensils gracefully land back on the table.

"There you go," Erik said. "We showed you ours, now show us yours,"

I sat up in my seat and reached a hand across the table and turned it palm up, "Mr. Xavier, would you be so kind to give me your hand?" I asked.

"Call me Charles, please," Charles replied, sliding his own hand into mine without a moment's hesitation, and out of the corner of my eye I saw Erik grimace.

"Your too trusting by half, Charles," Erik commented, shaking his head.

I closed my fingers gently around Charles', and slowly a broad, blissful smile stretched across his face as I channeled sensations of contentment into him.

"An empath," he breathed. "My, that's...mmm, that's lovely," Charles laughed, I smirked as I slid my hand back across the table, and Charles took a moment to compose himself.

"Want to see something else?" I asked grinning.

"Yes, please!" Charles exclaimed, grinning back excitedly.

I focused my gaze on one of the knives on table, and narrowed my eyes in concentration. A purple aura surrounded the knife as it raised itself off of the table and floated in mid-air and I maneuvered it to have the blade facing Erik as Charles watched, fascinated at the display I was putting on.

"Remarkable," Charles breathed.

"Your telekinetic," Erik stated boredly, snatching the knife out of the air by the handle.

"I am," I replied, looking at Erik. "Now, you two are going to tell me why I've been performing tricks like I'm in some circus show," I demanded, glancing between the two men in front of me.

Charles laughed, "You have amazing gifts, a mutation, an ability. Erik and I are recruiting people to help us and in the process you get to learn how to control your powers,"

"Recruiting?" I asked confused, looking at them suspiciously. "For what?"

"That is what we're here to talk to you about," Charles said, sensing the sudden guarded tone in my voice. His eyes held mine in an intense stare. "A war is upon us, Claudia,"

"Yes, I know. The one between the Soviets and America, everyone knows that," I stated, now leaning back into my seat. My mind was reeling at where the conversation was going. Charles nodded firmly. "But what has that got to do with mutants? Or me, more specifically?"

"One of the agents at the CIA discovered a plot, the spark that lit the fire line for the nuclear war," This time, it was Erik that had spoken. His soft yet gruff voice flooded into my ears with its tough resonance. "She had gone undercover to see one of the American Colonel's getting pressured into installing missiles into Turkey. That was the first step to angering the Soviets, and they are planning to retaliate. From what she had described, it had been a mutant who was threatening the Colonel,"

"A mutant?" I questioned. "But why?"

"We have no idea as of yet," Charles offered, leaning back into his seat as well.

It was obvious to me that Charles was troubled by the fact that a fellow mutant would want to start a war between two powerful nations.

"Well, do you know who the mastermind is behind all of this?" I asked again, raising an eyebrow.

"Sebastian Shaw," Erik spat, the venom clear in his words. A frown was etched deep into his forehead and his eyes were glaring at the coffee table, as though willing it to break under the hatred burning in his cold blue orbs.

By the way I could sense the hatred coming from Erik's emotions, he was an enemy. A big one.

"So that's why you're recruiting people? Like me?" I asked.

"We're planning to stop Shaw before he could escalate this conflict any further. He has got his own army of mutants to help him," Charles replied. "We need ours," Charles finished.

I ran my hand down my face, closing my eyes and breathed out deeply. This was not how I planned my night going, these two men walk up to me, telling me how they are like me and need my help to prevent World War III. This was a lot for me to take in, in such a short period of time. I mentally made two lists, negative and positive. Positive points: Learn to hone my powers, meet other people like me and this was probably the only chance for me to fit in and have something. Negative points: This could be a trap and if it wasn't a trap my powers could probably kill someone else.

"Give this a chance," Charles' voice urged gently, breaking me out of my thoughts.

I opened my eyes and staring at the two men, Charles and Erik staring back at me. Charles looked at me patiently and Erik looked like as though he had just proven something to Charles.

I pushed a curled strand of hair behind my ear and took a deep breath, "While this sounds very dire and adventurous, I can't," I answered shaking my head. "Why should I come? I have a perfectly good life right now, with a decent paying job. I don't want to be involved in any war,"

"What?" Erik started, raising an eyebrow. "You don't just _charm_ your way out of everything?" Erik asked mockingly.

I looked at Erik pointedly and glared, "No, actually. Having everything handed to you, makes life quite boring," I retorted.

"We've already spoken to your boss about it," Charles answered. "He's willing to grant you an indefinite period of leave from work. Or at least until the whole thing is over,"

"He agreed?" I balked, thinking back to the measly, overweight doctor who had many a times refused to grant me my annual break, unless I used my powers on him.

Charles smiled, "The words 'government' and 'CIA' can be very convincing in situations such as these,"

"He must think me to be some criminal or spy now," I muttered more to myself, before scowling up at the two when I realized what they had done. "You guys move fast. What if I didn't want to join your little team?"

"You'll get your job back," Charles shrugged his shoulders. "Your boss wouldn't even remember meeting anyone by the names of Charles Xavier or Erik Lehnsherr," He tapped his fingers against his temple with a proud smile.

"How convenient, but even if I agree to join you, my life will never be the same. I will be ostracized even more than I already am," I explained.

"You don't think the public will accept you?" Charles asked.

"Charles, please tell me that your not this naive?" I asked back. "I don't know how you folks do it across the sea. But Charles, look at me, I am a black woman in America, I'm barely accepted now and I live in the northern part of America. Why would they accept me? Black people are being murdered for the color of their skin since this country was founded. People in the past have been killed for being different. Just look what happened with the Jews and Hitler," I pointed out.

I could feel Erik's mind radiating with anger. I frowned and when I looked up and saw Erik's face. He looked like he stuck in between an inner battle with himself.

"I think humans will accept us sooner or later," Charles stated optimistically.

"Perhaps, that remains to be seen. They don't even accept humans with a different skin color," I remarked. Momentarily, a silence fell over us before I spoke up and broke it. "Just to be clear, this isn't some sort of a trap? You two aren't trying to experiment on me?" I asked in a serious tone. "And the CIA and African-Americans do not have the best history, so promise me that they won't try to assassinate me and label me as some black radical," I added.

Charles looked slightly amused, but shook his head, "No, we won't hurt you and the CIA won't hurt you, I promise," Charles reassured, and I nodded then stood up.

I was probably going to regret this.

"I'll...help you guys," I began.

"Thank you, Claudia," Charles interjected gently.

"But, let's be clear that doesn't mean I trust you. We've only just met," I explained, glancing at the two of them.

"Completely understandable, Claudia," Charles replied.

"One more condition, if you want my help," I stated, and Erik scoffed and I glared at him.

"This should be interesting," Erik drawled.

I looked back at Charles, "You have to promise me, if I occasionally let my mental shield down, you will not look inside my mind," I said.

Charles looked quite stunned, "Of course. But can I ask, how can you block me out? You're not a telepath,"

My gaze hardened again, "I once knew someone who was,"

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 ** _AN: And that's the end of the chapter folks! I know it was long, but hopefully you enjoyed it!_**


	2. Division X

_**AN: Thank you to everyone who supported and liked the first chapter! Also, as you can see I changed the title of this story, Breath of Life was not sitting well with me for some reason.  
**_

 _ **Amirachan88: Thank you for review and the answer to your question is to wait and see! All will be revealed in later chapters!**_

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The car journey was slow and tedious, it had only been three hours since the three of us had set off. I was dozing off in the back seat cocooned in my tan wool coat as my head used the window as a pillow, listening to Charles and Erik talk softly amongst themselves, they must have thought I was fully asleep.

"Why recruit an empath?" Erik asked curiously. "Why not recruit someone with a more destructive power?"

"You forget Claudia is also telekinetic," Charles answered. "I mean did you see her? When she lifted that knife, her eyes, it was as if they were glowing. It was beautiful to look at!" Charles exclaimed, and I could envision a brilliant smile on his face.

"You find her attractive, don't you?" Erik asked, almost amused. "I'm sure Agent MacTaggert will understand," Erik continued, still in a teasing tone.

Charles chuckled delightfully, "I'm not going to comment on that," Charles stated, clearing his throat and changing the topic. "But do not discount her empathy as not a destructive gift, that particular ability can enhance her mind and body to be nearly superhuman if she wished it to do so, along with projecting her emotions to other people. Empathy can be extremely dangerous,"

"Do you think she has used it in a dangerous way?" Erik questioned. Erik's question hung in the air for a while. "Charles?" Erik prompted.

"There is danger within her," Charles answered softly.

His voice, hazy as the air in summertime, seemed to come from somewhere outside of himself. The two of them were silent then, knowing and sharing this sudden, troubling observation. Just as my eyes felt heavy and I felt myself drifting into a peaceful sleep when Erik's voice startled me.

"Charles, do you really think that this is a good idea?"

"Erik, if I didn't have faith in how powerful her abilities are then I never would have allowed her to get mixed up in this in the first place," Charles assured.

"And just how powerful are her abilities, Charles? I feel like there's something you're hiding. What more can she do?"

"She's more powerful than even she knows. You've only sampled a small amount of the power she possesses. But I think that she's holding back what she can do, so until she tells us, we'll have to wait,"

My mind became fuzzy and I soon drifted off into total and calm oblivion.

~~~x~~~

When I woke up, my head was still resting on the window. I lifted my head from my makeshift pillow and saw Erik looking at me, through the rear view mirror, with a mixture of emotions that I didn't recognize. I shifted slightly and sat up slowly, my limbs groaning in protest. It was now early afternoon, as we made the drive to the CIA headquarters.

My eyes shifted between the back of Erik's seat and the back of Charles seat every few minutes. Charles looked at the mirror, shifting his eyes slightly so he can still see the road and keep eye contact with me.

"So Claudia," He began in attempt to break the uncomfortable silence that had fallen on the car now that I was awake. "What did you do at your job?"

My eye twitched as I stared at the mirror, "Clearly, I was in maintenance," I retorted sleep still heavy in my voice, as I gestured at my dress underneath my coat.

Erik's eyes moved from the passenger side window back to the mirror, looking at me, "Sarcasm won't be the best way to pass time," He turned his attention back to the road.

We sit in a tense silence, I never was one for small talk. I just left my home and job only a few hours ago to help two strangers I just met. They worked for the government, which raised my suspicion, but the fact that they knew how to find me so easily and knew what I could do was unnerving. I believe that I deserved to be left alone with my thoughts, this was a lot for me.

After a few minutes of more tense silence I spoke up again, "Psychologist," I answered, causing the two men to look back at me. "I was a psychologist's assistant, I only have my bachelor's degree," I explained.

It was the perfect cover, I gave mental support to patients and their families. No one really knew what I was and what I could do if I was given the chance. Secretly, I always hoped something would happen that'd make me use my powers for a cause bigger than myself.

Charles smiled at me, "Where did you attend college?"

My voice turned monotone, "Howard University, but you probably already knew that and my whole life story,"

"Contrary to your belief, I am not one to betray someone's trust. You asked me to stay out of your head, so until I have your permission, I won't reach out for you telepathically," Charles looked at the rear view mirror again, catching my eyes again.

Regret flashed in my eyes as I dropped my gaze, playing with my hands. "My apologies,"

"There's no need to apologize to me, Claudia,"

I cleared my throat and looked out the window, "Where are we?" I asked, changing the subject.

"We're coming up to the headquarters now," Charles answered, gesturing to the large building looming up ahead of us.

I looked out of the window to see the headquarters. It was made up of one huge tan stone building surrounded by acres of clean green fields and deciduous trees, with a rather odd looking satellite to the left of it that looked like a large golf ball atop of a tee. It was quite remarkable and imposing, but also very conspicuous.

"I would have thought that it would be more camouflaged, being a government building and all," I quipped, and Erik let out a light chuckle.

The car came to a gradual stop before we pulled up to the curb and we all stepped out of the car.

"Home sweet home," Erik noted dryly.

The air had turned cold and bitter and I shrugged my coat closer to me in an attempt to keep warm, before I grabbed my suit case out of the black car. Charles, Erik, and I had gone back to my apartment after I was recruited to gather my clothes and valuables into my suitcase. I smiled inwardly thinking back on how Erik ordered me to hurry up and pack my belongings and I did just the exact opposite just to piss him off.

 _"I thought I told you to make it quick," Erik grumbled, trying to steer me out of my own apartment._

 _"You did. I just didn't listen," I answered simply,_ _before latching onto Charles' arm, and he guided me out the apartment._

 _"Claudia, Erik. Please. Do try to get on. We have a six hour car journey ahead of us and I don't think that my sanity will be able to stand you two bickering for that length of time," Charles groaned.  
_

 _"My, my, is he always like that?" I asked, looking over my shoulder with a wry grin and Erik just glared at me.  
_

 _"Erik?"_

 _"Who else?" I retorted, rolling my eyes. "Is he always so hostile towards people?"_

 _"I would say not trusting in your case, my dear," Charles corrected. "Just give him time and he will come around, probably not entirely, but I trust he will not try to kill you," Charles stated sending me a reassuring smile, that I couldn't help but raise an eyebrow to._

 _"I'd like to see him try,"_

It was starting to become fun, arguing with Erik. He had a quick wit, not unlike myself. We could keep up with each other. Shaking my head out of my daze, I closed the car door closed Charles came up behind me and placed a hand on my shoulder and slowly guided me towards the front door.

"Now Claudia, there are six more people here just like us. You will meet them shortly," Charles informed, as I walked beside him with suitcase in hand.

"Ah, Charles, Erik, welcome back. I see you have brought one more recruit," A large, more plump man greeted us, sporting a black suit, wore square glasses, and had jet black hair. "Welcome to my facility, the CIA's new Mutant Division," he welcomed as I looked on impressed. He extended his hand out to me, I was shocked by the gesture. "I'm Agent Platt, and I promise you I'm on your side,"

"Claudia Walker," I greeted back smiling while giving his hand a firm shake. "And by that I hope you mean you support us, because you aren't a mutant," I hinted, my smile never wavered. Agent Platt raised his eyebrows, glancing to Charles uncomfortably. "I'm an empath Mr. Platt. I might not know what you're thinking, but rest assured I know what you're feeling," The man smiled, his cheeks scrunching up.

"Well, anyway, let's introduce you to your new partners, Claudia. You'll be with them for a...long while, so might as well get acquainted," Agent Platt stated.

"We are actually are on their way Agent Platt," Charles informed, shoving his hands in pocket. "We got from here," Charles stated.

Mr. Platt nodded, "It was nice meeting you, Claudia," I gave small wave and the man twisted around and walked away from us.

As we moved around the halls, which were full of CIA agents, some of them had stopped in their tracks, watching as the three of us made our way through. Some had disgusted looks on their faces, like they had smelled something awful. Others had smirks plastered on their face, and I could see it in their eyes that they were working on plans on how to make my life miserable. It wouldn't be hard, those stares were enough to make me feel uncomfortable.

Charles and Erik seemingly ignored the stares and both pointed out places. It had already become easy to tell who really was fully into this, and that was Charles. As we moved into the laboratories, he lit up with explaining ideas of mutations in genes and all sort of things that revolved around an expansion of the human race. His hope for this new sort of combined world was almost infectious. And then there was Erik, the gruffer of the two who just sort of nodded along, ignoring the mutations speeches, but pointed of the more relevant things like the bathroom and kitchen. Both had their positives and negatives, and you could tell that they were good friends that filled in what the other was lacking a bit.

"Here is where you'll be staying," Charles pushed open the door to the small simple room. "All of us are staying in this hallway. Welcome to your new home Claudia," I looked at Charles smile and internally shake my head.

This was hardly my home. All it was was a big, white, cold building that stuck out like a neon flashing light. It might as well say "Mutants helping the CIA are here. Come check them out!"

I opened my mouth to voice my opinion, but changed my mind, "Thanks," I smiled to him as I stepped in and put my bag on the bed.

"Do you mind if I change. Sleeping and sitting in this dress for six hours was very uncomfortable," I explained.

"Of course, we'll be right outside the door," Charles replied, and he left the room.

My eyes scanned over the room once more, my bedroom looked like a stereotypical military barrack. Grey walls, grey prickly carpet, grey, bland itchy bed covers, a lumpy mattress, standard chest of drawers and a small desk with a small desk lamp. No personality. At. All. It was definitely going to need a change, because this would not do.

"Alright," I shrugged and turned to unpack my suitcase. Flipping it open I started pulling out my perfectly folded clothing, and shoes. It was then as I started stooped down and lined my shoes up along the end of my bed that I realized Erik was still there, because he started chuckling.

"Can I help you, Chuckles?" I questioned, glancing back up at him.

"Nope, just wondering where the crack is in that perfect exterior you've built," He shrugged. "I mean, from what I've seen, all of us have one," he reasoned and I knew that he wasn't just talking of the human race, but specifically mutants.

"You tell me yours and I'll possibly tell you mine," I smirked as he raised an eyebrow to me and leaned back against the wall, crossing his arms.

"I'm a survivor of the Holocaust," he replied with a look that silently tested me to freak out or something with this information.

This man wanted a reaction and I wasn't going to give it to him.

"That's one _enormous_ crack," I turned back to him unconsciously rubbing my wrist, a motion that Erik did not miss as he raised a curious eyebrow.

"You're telling me," He replied dryly. "So...come on. You've got the Miss Perfect act down to a 'T', so where is it?" Erik asked, his eyes scanning over me.

"I don't if I should say now, yours would trump mine any day," I explained, as I ran my hand down my neck uncomfortably. I cleared my throat hoping to dispel the suffocating atmosphere that was closing in on me. "Now if you'll excuse me, I need to change," I reminded, and Erik shot annoyed glance and grunted, before leaving the room.

I turned back to my suitcase and searched through my clothes to change into some more comfortable clothing. After finally deciding on what to wear I had changed into a pair of black cropped pants, flats, and a red turtleneck sweater. I walked out of my room, to see Erik and Charles waiting next to my door.

"Did you get lost in there?" Erik asked irritatedly.

"No. Beauty takes time, didn't you know?" I retorted, and Erik rolled his eyes. "Now, where are the other mutants, Charles?" I asked, focusing my gaze on Charles now.

"Follow me," Charles said, extending his arm out.

We had taken several corridors before finally coming to the room where the others were being kept. I grimaced at my thoughts, I made them sound like caged animals.

Charles stopped at the doors and turned to me, "Can you make sure they don't get into too much trouble? Charles requested.

I nodded slightly curious to see who I'm working with, "I'll be sure to," I answered.

As we stood in front of the door I took a moment to compose myself. I smoothed out the wrinkles in my pants and made sure my hair was in place though it was loose, I wanted make sure it wasn't all over the place. After all, first impressions were everything.

Charles pushed open the double doors and walked in. Erik followed with me in tow. I looked around the room. It was quite large with chairs and tables, couches in the middle and a fish tank against a wall. Two large windows were on either side of the room and it looked out towards the grounds.

"Everyone, I would like you to meet our final recruit," I then noticed the other people in the room. They were all younger than me, and staring at me. "This is Claudia Walker and I hope you treat her well. Now if you would excuse Erik and me, we have some matters to discuss,"

My head snapped up and glared at Charles' retreating form. I lifted my barrier slightly.

 _"Feed me to the dogs why don't you_ ,"

Charles left with a laugh and several confused glances before he and Erik were finally out of the room. A stunning blonde ran up to me, pulling me into a tight embrace. I stepped back a little startled. Admittedly, I enjoyed being wrapped in her arms, it had been a long time since I last had a friend.

"I'm Raven, Charles' sister," Raven pulled away.

"I didn't know he had one," I replied, letting out a laugh.

"Well, he's barely here anymore to talk," Raven sighed, and then flashed me a fake smile. "Anyway, come and meet the others!" Her faux smile turned into a grin as she dragged me to the sofa. "Okay, this is Armando, but he prefers to be called Darwin," Raven started, nodding towards a slim, dark skinned man, clearly the oldest of the group of teens. "Angel," Nodding at a beautiful, caramel colored girl, with pitch black hair and sultry dark brown eyes. "Sean," My eyes moving to Sean, a pale, ginger, and rather lanky boy.

Sean stood up and took my hand, kissing it, "Sean Cassidy. Sixteen years old, I like fish, and pretty girls with black hair," he hinted. Raven and I exchanged amused looks that said, _"Is he serious?"_

 _"Teenage boys and their hormones. It's like being back in high school," I thought.  
_

A muscular blond boy pulled Sean back into his seat by his shirt and said, "Alright Casanova," I laughed. "Get over it, man. She's out of your league, and probably older than you," The blond boy did a double take, his hand still fisted in Sean's shirt, "Wait, how old are you?"

"Twenty-two," I answered.

"Six years older, man," the blond boy pointed to Sean before letting him go.

"I can take older women!" Sean protested.

The boy rolled his eyes and turned to me, "Excuse ginger's-"

"Hey!" Sean interjected.

"Sad and obvious excuse to get you in a closet, a date, or in his bed...But I'm Alex. Alex Summers," Alex introduced, a smile forming on his face.

"And finally, Hank," Raven continued, motioning to the last guy left, clearly the nerd of the group, with his glasses and dorky jumper.

Hank reached out a hand, that I briefly shook, knowing it made Raven uncomfortable. She clearly liked him, it wasn't that I couldn't see where she was coming from. He was cute in a way, but just not my type.

"Now we're government agents, we should have code names," Raven suggested. "I want to be called Mystique," She announced, she clearly having previously thought about it.

"Damn! I wanted to be called Mystique," Sean protested, faking disappointment. I couldn't help but chuckle and shake my head.

"Well, tough I called it." Raven laughed.

In seconds, blue scales trickled down her body before feathering into a perfect replica of Sean. Sean was taken aback, nearly spilling his drink. After the initial shocked faded, Sean began to study himself. We couldn't help but gape, it was truly amazing.

"Besides, I'm way more mysterious than you," Raven added, everyone broke into laughter, giving Raven a round of applause, as Sean turned back into a rather bashful Raven.

"Darwin, what about you?" Raven asked, taking her applause modestly.

"Well Darwin is already a nickname and it kind of fits," He nodded at us. "Adapt to survive an' all. Check this out," Darwin strode over to the fish tank, I couldn't help but wonder what he was about to do. He dunked his head into to the water of the fish tank, we didn't even have to blink before newly formed gills appeared on his face. We began to cheer, as he opened his mouth, impersonating a fish. The gills disappeared as he took his head out of the tank, shaking off the water, before signalling to Sean.

"What about you?" Sean pressed his hands together, taking a moment to decide.

"I'm going to be...Banshee," I was about to open my mouth to speak before I was interrupted by Hank.

"Why do you want to be named after a wailing spirit?" Hank had took the words straight from my lips, I nodded in agreement.

"You might wanna cover your ears," Sean spoke, getting up from his chair, revealing his full height, winking directly at me and I rolled my eyes.

All of us frowned in sheer confusion before reluctantly covering our ears. Sean bent down, keeping us in suspense. Letting out a high pitch whistling noise, shattering the glass window. Sean winced slightly when he saw the damage he had done before joining in with the others laughter. I gazed in horror at it.

 _"Charles is going to murder me,"_ I thought to myself.

Maybe I would be able to...fix it, but I knew it was a useless thought.

"Your turn," Sean signaled at Angel, returning to his previous seat.

"My stage name was Angel," She stood up, sliding the leather jacket down her arms, revealing her bare back. Sean let out a wolf whistle and Alex shifted uncomfortably, clearly affected. "It kinda fits," Angel turned around revealing tattooed wings on her back slowly peeling off, starting to flutter effortlessly.

"You can fly?!" Raven gaped, mesmerized by her pixie wings.

"Uhuh and..." She bent over, and spat out a ball of what appeared to be acid onto the top of the statues head.

I had to suppress another groan at the damage inflicted upon the statue. Somehow I knew that the night was only going to get more destructive.

"That's disgusting," I muttered under my breath, thinking no one could hear me.

"Well what can you do," Angel challenged me, since I wasn't that impressed with her display.

I smirked and stood up, straightening myself out, "Well, I'm an empath. I can detect other peoples feelings and manipulate them, Watch," I instructed.

I walk over to Darwin and place my hand on his arm, "Amazement," I stated, and I walked over to Sean. I touched his arm, wrinkling my nose a little. "Lust. Ew," I commented, as everyone laughed and Sean turned a light shade of pink. "And..." I walked past Alex, about to do my trick on him, when I see him tense up.

The emotions I feel are mixed, there is a hint of happiness, but it is over shadowed by a depressing, dark feeling. I looked into his eyes and there is so much mystery, so much _hurt,_ that I am compelled not to reveal this boy's current emotional state to the entire group.

"... You get the picture," I finished, walking away. I might've been mistaken, but I swear I felt a slight sense of gratitude radiating off of Alex. I took a seat across from Angel, sitting at the edge of it, focusing on Angel's brain. "What I'm doing right now is accessing the hippocampus of Angel's brain, having that send messages to the amygdala, which is the part of the brain that is responsible for emotions. I have to choose an emotion then release and Angel will act the way that emotion wants her to," I explained, looking at everyone.

My choice was to make her really sad, I don't know why but it was just for no reason. When I released her brain, she started to cry hysterically. She could probably fill a bathtub with her tears. I released my control over Angel and she calmed down after few minutes, everyone choked with laughter, and Angel glared at me.

"Ask and you shall receive," I stated, returning an innocent smile with a shrug.

"Oh, and I can also-" I broke off, as I pointed towards Sean's glass that he was about to take a drink out of. It took itself out of his hand surrounded in a violet aura and hovered just out of his reach. They all looked up at me in amazement. Sean whistled, clapping. I gave a small smile, bowing in my seat.

"Hmm...what about...Blithe? But spelt B-l-y-t-h-e!" Raven said excitedly.

"I don't get it," Sean stated, confusion evident in his expression.

"It means to be happy and carefree," Hank explained, quietly but all of us heard him and we turned to look at him. He cleared his throat before carrying on looking at me. "It also means to show a casual and cheerful indifference, not that I'm trying to say that you do-" Hank starting to ramble.

"It's fine, no offense taken," I reassured, cutting him off and he looked up at me. "I love it," I looked back over to Raven. "Blythe...It's got a nice ring to it," I carry on smiling at her.

"What's your name?" Raven asked. Hank looked down, embarrassed.

Alex choked on his drink, "How about Bigfoot?" Alex sniggered.

Raven turned her head to glare at him. I shot a disapproving look at Alex, it was like he had shattered the little confidence, Hank actually had.

"Well, you know what they say about guys with big feet," Raven started, looking down to Alex's feet, I frowned in confusion. Hanks mutation was big feet? "And yours look kind of small," Raven's tone turning spiteful. I couldn't help but laugh along with the others including Alex, all except Raven and Hank, who sat in an awkward silence.

"Alex, what is your gift? What can you do?" Darwin asked, motioning to him before leaning back into the sofa.

"Uh it's not...Um, I can't do it, I can't do it in here," Alex stuttered, avoiding everyone's gaze.

My own gaze softened, I found myself feeling sorry for him, "Guys," I started, looking at him in sympathy. "Let's leave him be,"

"Can you do it out there?" Darwin asked, gesturing out the window.

"Darwin!" I exclaimed, making him look abashed. But it was too late, the idea had already caught fire.

"Why don't you just do it out there?" Raven said, her eyes alight with mischief.

"Come on," The room erupted into cheers of Alex's name. Leaning back in my seat, I sighed heavily. _This is fantastic._ Soon giving into the calls, Alex stood up. They cheered, Raven laughing.

"Get down when I tell you," Alex ordered, looking deadly serious. He seemed deathly afraid of his own powers, whatever those were. We got up from our spots on the sofas and piled along the edge of the window. Alex was outside, a little to the side of us.

"Get back," he warned. We ducked back into the room, before peeking our heads out once again. He had a determined expression on his face and his arms were slightly outstretched in front of him.

"Get back!" He ordered, and they repeated their action from before, while I didn't. However, after a moment, they joined me once more. "Whatever," Alex grumbled.

Alex began to circle his hips, in a way that would make you think he knew what he was doing, as three red rings appeared. Letting go, the rings flew in different directions, one of the other beams came dangerously close to hitting Raven another one sliced through the statue, clean in half. When he did, I groaned loudly, clapping a hand to my forehead. The others clapped and cheered, impressed more likely at the destruction of the statue, more than Alex's power.

He split the thing in half! How do you even _do_ that? Giving up, I marched back over to my seat, collapsing in it.

 _"Sorry Charles," I apologized in advance. "I wasn't a very good caretaker,"_

"You know what this party needs?" Darwin asked rhetorically, standing up, "Alcohol," He pulled out a bottle of tequila out of the cabinet.

He was met with cheers as everyone besides me rushed to get some.

"Well," Angel began."I think we deserve a little music,"

Rolling my eyes to myself, I rubbed the bridge of my nose. I predicted more damage _._ Sighing, I sat down in my spot, leaving the others to their antics. They already caused a large amount of damage, what more could they do?

* * *

 _ **AN: Another chapter done! I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Agent Platt is the Man in the Black Suit character that said the line "that's some magic trick." He wasn't actually given a name, so I just used the actor's last name; just to clear up any confusion. Also, if there were any grammar or spelling mistake I'm truly sorry, I quadrupled checked this chapter and still feel like I missed something.**_


	3. Budding Relationships

_**AN: Thank you to everyone who has followed, favorite, or reviewed this story it really means a lot to me!**_

* * *

As it turned out, there was a lot more they could do. The sky was almost pitch black, and the awkwardness and tension between the group of young mutants, had surely faded. All it took was a few hours and a bit of alcohol. Even the friction between Angel and I had dissipated, but you could just tell that we would only ever tolerate each other.

It was a bad scene.

With, "The Shake", playing loudly through jukebox, Alex and Sean were hitting Darwin with chair legs, who was partially transformed into stone. Darwin was urging them on. Obviously alcohol had a part in that part of the scene. Then there was Raven and Angel dancing drunkenly on the couch, and Hank hanging from the ceiling. Then there was me, sitting on the couch reading and nursing a glass of scotch as I bounced my foot to the music. I couldn't say I liked the song, but I had to admit, it was catchy.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?" It was a woman's voice, I didn't recognize the voice, so I presumed she must be Moira. Her business attire suggested that she was someone important. Charles and Erik stood aghast with the very angry woman, looking at the destruction.

Quickly shutting the book of poetry I managed to find, I stood up from my spot. I studied Moira, she was pretty with dark eyes and short auburn hair, but frankly I didn't understand what Charles saw in her. He definitely had a thing for her, I could tell by the way his voice warmed up at the mention of her name. Moira appeared too plain, and it looked like we weren't off to the best of starts.

The others abruptly stopped their movements, "Who destroyed the statue?" She demanded.

"It was Alex," Hank answered quickly, throwing him under the bus. Alex turned to glare at him as Raven stepped up.

"No, Havok. We have to call him Havok. That's his name now," Raven was still more than a little bit tipsy. "And we were thinking," Raven continued, oblivious to the disgruntled looks she was getting from the three adults, "Claudia should be Blythe," Raven stated, pointing at me and I lowered my head pinching the brim of my nose. "You should be Professor X," she said, now pointing at Charles, "And you should be Magneto," she pointed at Erik.

Erik stared at her stonily for a moment, "Exceptional," he commented, his eyes drifting towards me.

I stepped forward, mentally preparing myself for the following conversation. Charles simply looked at us all in pure disappointment. He turned to Raven specifically, who looked like she was about to burst into tears.

"I expect more from you," Charles' jab at Raven is short, but painful. Her hurt and sadness flooded me just as quickly as it flooded her.

"Charles-" I was cut off by the look he shot me.

"Meet me in the library," he stated coolly.

I stiffened at his tone. He brushed past me and walked towards the facility, stepping over the broken glass on the ground. I didn't like being talked to as if I was some student being called to the principal's office. I didn't like the feeling of being treated like a child. I never did, especially when it was coming from Charles, a man that I hardly knew. I didn't get a reaction out of Erik, just a cryptic stare. Soon, he walked past me as well. I went over to Raven, pulling her into a comforting hug. Raven resisted before letting go and whimpering softly into my shoulder.

"It's okay, dear. He'll be over it by the morning," I smiled, stroking her hair, hoping to soothe her.

"Hey, I'm sad, I need a hug too!" Sean proposed, getting a well-earned smack around the back of the head by Darwin and Alex, who both had the same idea.

Striding past them, I clenched my jaw as I steadily made my way to find Charles. I know I messed up, badly. But it hardly warranted this reaction when there was nothing I could've done to prevent most of this. By the time I got there, Charles was sitting at a desk with no one else in sight. Closing the door behind me, it truly felt like I was being sent down to the principal's office. He was looking at me coolly over his interlaced hands. I shifted uncomfortably under his gaze.

"Oh don't act like that," I stated, breaking the silence, "It doesn't suit you,"

That was the spark that caused his eruption.

"I gave you one thing to do!" He exclaimed, his hands flying down to grip the edges of his desk. " _One thing_ , Claudia!" he repeated.

"They are barely adults, Charles!" I shot back just as fiercely. "You know that! They haven't come to terms with what is going to happen, they are bound to act like the children that they are!"

"They shattered a window and destroyed a statue!" I opened and shut my mouth. There was really no excuse that I could say to that.

"We were showing each other our abilities," I explained, subdued for now.

"Claudia, you're the oldest person in there. You should've acted like it!" He scolded.

"Maybe you should ask before pointing fingers and scolding me like I'm some child. I didn't cause any destruction in case you're wondering. I know I probably could've stopped them from destroying the property, but I'm not sure if you've noticed there wasn't much to do. That's probably the most fun they had in awhile!" I pointed out.

"I-" Charles started, but I cut him off.

"No! Don't interrupt me! We just met Charles, and you're mad at me for not being able to control a group of teenagers who have powers, that are _literal_ strangers to me! No, I refuse to take the fall for this mess!" I argued.

Charles slumped back in his seat, rubbing his temples tiredly, "They could've been hurt," Charles remarked quietly, looking up at me once more.

My gaze softened, "I know," I agreed gently, moving closer to the desk. "You know I would've been able to stop anything truly bad from happening," Charles sighed in defeat at the truth of my words.

We sat in a now comfortable silence for several moments.

"They still need to act more mature," Charles said in a subdued tone. His crystal blue eyes had regained their usual spark, and all anger had left them.

I chuckled, "Oh, I know. I'll start working on it tomorrow," I chuckled, placing my hand over his. "Goodnight Charles,"

"Goodnight," he answered, a small smile of his own appearing.

I slowly moved my hand from his, Charles flipped his hand palm side and slightly curled his fingers over mine. The contact lingered more than necessary. I smiled softly as I closed the door behind me. Turning my head, I jumped when I saw Erik standing there.

"Jesus Christ!" I exclaimed, jumping a foot in the air. "Erik! Don't do that!" Erik merely arched an eyebrow.

By the look on his face I could tell that he had heard the entire argument. I sighed to myself.

"I didn't know it was possible to sneak up on you," he rumbled, his soft blend of an accent making itself known. It was somehow soothing to listen to.

"Take it as a compliment," I answered wryly. "I'm sorry about the mess they made," I said guiltily after a moment of silence, shifting uncomfortably. I somehow felt more apologetic in his presence than Charles.

Perhaps because he wasn't the one yelling at me.

Erik gave a wry smile, "From what I heard," he said in his delightful voice. "You weren't the one causing it," I smiled slightly in return, answering his question with nary a word.

"You seemed shocked," I stated smirking.

"Only because you seem like a troublemaker," Erik retorted, and silence fell between us and I studied Erik with a slight tilt of my head. His emotionless blue eyes and seemingly permanent scowl etched onto features intrigued me. The faux relaxed posture could've fooled people, but not me. He was obviously ready to face any type of attack. "You see something you like?" Erik questioned, noticing how my eyes swept over his form.

"Maybe, maybe not," I began, sauntering closer to Erik with my hands interlaced behind my back. "I was just curious to see how long you can keep this calm facade you have going on right now. Because deep down the anger that you lock away is bubbling inside of you, like a volcano waiting to erupt," I finished, explaining my observation and folding my arms across my chest.

Erik smirked, "And you think you're so different?" Erik challenged, arching his brow as he mimicked my expression and took a step closer toward me. "You hide behind your smiles and sarcasm, your wit and sass to cover up whatever your actually feeling inside. You have everyone fooled that you're perfect, but you're not. Don't think that I haven't been observing you as well," Erik finished, looking down at me with those blue eyes that were cold as steel, yet I felt suddenly a rush of heat spread through my body.

"So, what does each of our analyses tell you, Mr. Lehnsherr? I quizzed, upholding my unfazed visage even though in the inside I was astonished on how quickly Erik was almost able to read me like a book.

"That the two of us are walking contradictions,"

~~~x~~~

Later, when I was in bed, Raven couldn't stop thinking about the way Charles reacted I could tell because her emotions kept fluctuating and were keeping me from going to sleep. Sighing, I hoisted myself up, to lean on both of my elbows and threw my covers off of me. I walked across my small room and to the door, leaving the room. I quietly moved down the hall and stopped at her door, softly knocking.

There's a rustling inside the room and Raven's face peeked from the crack of her barely opened door.

"You wanna talk about it?" I asked quietly.

"How'd you know I was awake?"

"You were snoring," I joked, with a shrug. "So loudly in fact, that I heard you all the way from my room which is three doors down," I continued, as Raven opened the door for me to enter her room.

Raven rolled her eyes, "I do not snore," Raven grumbled, shutting the door.

"I know," I smiled, plopping down on her lumpy bed. "But I also know that the older sibling can't stay pissed long. We're weak against the puppy dog eyes,"

Raven sat next to me and pulled her legs into her chin, "Charles and I aren't really related,"

I wrapped my arm around her and she placed her head on my shoulder, "So what?" I shook my head in disbelief. "You introduced yourself to me as 'Charles' sister'. He'll get over it. Fast," I assured smiling warmly, rubbing her arm soothingly. It's going to be okay Raven,"

" _We're_ weak against puppy dog eyes?" Raven cocked an eyebrow, lifting her head from my shoulder.

My lips curved into a smile as my thoughts went to my family, "Younger brother and sister," I explained, as Raven lids started to droop. After clearing her mind, she wanted to drift off. I could tell, even in this dim lit room. I unwrapped my arms from her and stood up from her bed and my way to the door. Raven slipped into her bed again "Night," I called, as I opened the door.

"Goodnight Claudia,"

~~~x~~~

I realized that comforting Raven was a mistake almost immediately the next morning. Raven doesn't leave my side. _At all_. She was like a lost puppy and don't get me wrong, I like Raven, she's nice and welcoming to me. But, my God, it was like she never had a single friend in her life. On our way to the mess area Raven told me about the story how she and Charles met when she was stealing food from his kitchen and how his mother and step-father adopted her into the family.

I pushed the door opened and saw Darwin, Angel, and Hank already claimed a table in the mess hall. The two of us walked over joining them at the lonely table after grabbing some food as well.

"Morning," Darwin greeted us, I flashed him a smile while Raven greeted him in return.

Remember when I said Raven was stuck to me like glue? So, naturally I'm stuck sitting in between Raven and Angel at breakfast, staring at my nails boredly. If I looked up I would have to deal with Hank and Raven making "secret" googly eyes at each other, it was sort of adorable to the point it made me sick. I took a bite of my toast and sipped some of my coffee while Hank, Darwin, Raven, and Angel all talked about their night of trying to fall asleep in the uncomfortable beds provided for us by the CIA.

"He wouldn't stop talking. It kept me up all night," Hank stated, into his cereal, grumbling about Sean.

From her place across from him, Raven gave a sympathetic smile.

Sean plopped down next to Hank, letting his tray of scrambled eggs drop the last couple inches to the table. "Talking about me?" Sean smiled toothily.

Hank gets flustered from being caught, but Raven remains level-headed, "Maybe,"

"I'm touched," Sean quipped, and began the process of shoveling his food in his face.

"Gross," Raven laughed at him.

I smiled as well as I stood up from the table, grabbing my empty plate and half-full mug and made my way to the small window where the dirty dishes are taken away. Placing them down softly I turned around only to see Raven right behind me, nearly giving me a heart attack.

I placed my hand on my chest to calm my heart, "Raven, you scared me," I breathed out.

"Sorry," Raven began smiling apologetically. "I just thought I should warn you about Charles," Raven stated. "From one girl to another," she added.

I furrowed my eyebrows, "Warn me?" I questioned, my lips curving into smile. "About what?" I asked again.

"It's just that Charles, is a bit of a flirt. And I wanted to give you a heads up if he ever says 'you have a groovy mutation' don't fall for it, he says that to all the girls he meets," Raven warned grinning, and I laughed softly. "You laugh now, but just you wait. I'm surprised he hasn't tried it on you yet, a pretty girl like yourself," Raven complimented, still smiling.

"You're too kind Raven, and thank you for the warning. I'll be sure to keep that in mind," I smiled, starting to make my way out of the mess hall, but a sudden surge of anxiousness bombarded my mind from behind me. I looked over my shoulder and saw Raven almost squirming, uncomfortable with the thought of me leaving the room for a second. "Don't worry Raven, I'll be back," I assured, and left the room.

I walked through the imposing government building passing through a door and a gust of frigid air caused my arms to break out in goosebumps. I repressed a shiver, passing through a set swinging doors, this set leading to a monotonously gray hallway. Another doorway. Another gray hall.

"How many identical hallways can one building have?" I grumbled, briefly rubbing my hands against my arms to drum up some warmth.

That's when I saw it, the place that was giving me a headache just trying to find it, the restroom. Just as I crossed the door frame I felt someone grab me roughly on me upper arm, whipping me around. It was a CIA agent.

"This restroom is _whites_ only," he hissed.

I could feel the waves of anger and disgust rolling off him and an air of danger seemed to surround him. I could feel the hairs on the back of my neck stand up and I was instantly on alert. My eyes darted between the agent and the restroom where there wasn't a sign in sight.

I raised an eyebrow, openly mocking him, "Funny, I don't see that. Looks to me it says women's restroom," I retorted flippantly, trying to free my arm, not even faltering in the agent's strong grip. "I think it would be in your best interest to pick up a dictionary so you know the difference between a gender and a color, wouldn't want people thinking your a simpleton now would you?" I questioned mockingly.

At this, the agent slapped me forcefully across the face with the back of his hand.

 _"My mama always told me that my mouth would get me in trouble," I thought._

For a moment I was stunned into silence. The hit stung, but I refused to allow my eyes to well up with tears. Without thinking, I also backhanded him across the face, twice as hard. He fell to the floor, stunned at the fact that a woman, a black woman, was bold enough to hit him back and with such force. In a flash the agent jumped to his feet and lunged across the corridor and pinned me against the wall, his arm pressing on my neck.

I felt my powers welling up inside of me, "I suggest you let go of me or things will get messy," I warned, my voice dangerously low and that only made the agent push down harder on my neck.

"You need to be taught some respect, _girl,_ "

"That's quite enough, agent!" Charles yelled sternly, I whipped my head to the end of the hallway to see Charles' figure he looked towards the man pinning me down. He quickly brought his hand up to his temple, walking closer to us. "You need to leave. Now!" Charles demanded angrily.

The agent dutifully released his hold on my neck and walked away like he didn't just physically assault me.

Charles placed each of his hands on my shoulders looking straight into my eyes. "Are you okay, Claudia?" Charles asked, scanning me over for injuries.

"It's fine," I lied, my face hot with embarrassment that Charles found me in such a vulnerable position.

"No, it's not. Claudia-" Charles began, cutting himself off mid-word. He grabbed my chin with one of his hands. "Your cheek is a bit redden, did he hit you Claudia?"

I pushed his hand away, "Charles, I'm fine. Please, just let me use the restroom," with that I quickly turned away from Charles' sympathetic eyes.

I walked in quickly not wanting to see anyone else. Just as the door swung close, I slid down the door crying silently into my hands. I wiped away my tears as I sniffed, I didn't want Charles' pity.

My body shook with sadness and fury, to say I was upset would be an understatement. I wanted to snap that man's neck and I wanted to use my powers to do it, but I knew that the CIA would only retaliate. It simply wasn't a wise choice. Someone would only end up hurt, and the whole situation would get messy. So, I did what I usually did, I got up onto my feet and stood up a little straighter pushing my shoulders back. A long, deep sigh escaping from mouth as I moved over to the mirror and hastily wiped away the remaining tears from my puffy eyes.

I endured.

~~~x~~~

I sat on a bench, my elbows resting upon my knees, trying to keep myself distracted. Every time I let my mind settle, images of that agent slapping me would flash in my mind. I had to repress my thoughts of making that agent meet his unfortunate and untimely demise.

"Penny for your thought?" I looked beside me to see Agent MacTaggert. She stuck her hand out to me. "I don't believe we've met. I'm Agent Moira MacTaggert, but you can just call Moira," Moira stated, introducing herself.

"Claudia Walker," I greeted back, shaking her hand. "And technically we did meet, you were just too busy yelling at us for the mess that the younger mutants made," I explained, a ghost of a smirk on my lips. "Sorry, about that," I apologized, a smile appearing on my face.

"I'm sorry if I came across as a bit harsh, my boss-" Moira began.

I waved her off, "I understand, the shouting was warranted. Trust me. The destruction of property was bad, now it's just worse because it was under your watch. We women aren't afforded the opportunity to make a mess of anything," I explained, with knowing look in my eyes.

She merely smiled at me, "You too huh?" Moira asked, sitting next to me.

"I used to work at a practice as an assistant, and one day I told my boss that I was going to pursue my Masters and Doctorate to become a psychologist, his response, laughter," I recalled, shaking my head. "He told me to stick to what I know best, which was filing papers and answering phones," I scoffed, still in disbelief of the audacity of him.

Truthfully, I shouldn't be revealing my life like this, to another complete stranger. But, there was just something about this woman before me that enabled me to trust her completely. It must be her friendly demeanor, or maybe it was our shared experiences with our shitty bosses. There fell a silence between us, and I went back to distracting myself this time admiring the paintings on the wall, but not really focusing on them.

"If you don't mind me asking," Moira began, cutting into the silence. "What are your powers exactly?" Moira asked curiously.

"I have many," and with that our surroundings around us suddenly changed.

The drab CIA building started to turn into a beautiful spring forest. I could feel the sunlight in my skin, the smell of the pine trees and the singing of the birds and I knew that Moira could too. She stared in awe at what she was looking. I thought about how harmless this was and wondered how I was still capable of this.

"Beautiful, isn't it?" I asked, a smile on my face.

Moira could not see me and when she turned to the origin of my voice she found me leaning on a pine tree.

Moira's hazel eyes widened, "How can you do this?" she asked in an amazed whisper. "Are you a witch or something?"

I smiled at her, "Empath, could be a better term to describe me," I offered, walking back towards her and sitting down.

In the blink of an eye our surroundings went back to normal and the beauty of the forest stayed in Moira's mind, where it had been all along.

"It was all an illusion," Moira murmured, still amazed.

"Exclusive first look too," I quipped. "I haven't even shown Charles and Erik that I can do this,"

Moira smiled, "It will be our little secret then," Moira stated, imitating zipping her lips and throwing away the key. Moira looked down at her watch before standing up. "Oh, I have to go. I need to meet with my partner for last minute logistics," Moira explained, and I nodded understandingly. "It was nice meeting you Claudia," Moira called over shoulder, briskly walking away and down the hall.

I glanced down at the corridor ahead of me before standing up myself and making my way down a different hallway. The hallways were empty, and I prayed they stayed that way. My footsteps echoed in the hallway as I rounded the corner and headed straight towards the library. When I reached the library's open door, I paused, glancing inside curiously and checking that no one is around. I pushed the door open further and slowly walked inside.

There were hundreds and hundreds of books.

I wondered how I could not of noticed this yesterday, probably because Charles and I were too busy arguing about the damage that the younger mutants caused last night. I moved over to the bookshelf and trailed my fingers over the spines of numerous books as I lost myself in a trance.

 _"Business or Pleasure?"_

 _I glanced up from the paper sitting in front of me to look at the dark haired boy, my boyfriend for a couple of months, his bright hazel eyes stared up at me as I quirked an eyebrow at him._ _Placing the paper down on the table in front of us in the university library I glanced at him and turned so my body was facing him on the loveseat._

 _"What do you mean?"_

 _He pursed his full lips and placed his hands on my knees, "That's what dad always says to me when I read papers and stuff, so I wanted to try it out,"_

 _I would have laughed if he didn't look so serious about it. So, I opted to humor him rather than laugh in his face._ _I pretended to think, rubbing my index finger against my chin and looking down at him._

 _"Business, Ben, business," I answered, beginning to collect my things. "I need to finish this paper and turn it into one of my professors," I looked around the room before I leaned forward and cupped a hand over his ear and began to whisper in his ear._ _"If you ask me, I'd say she gave me all this work on purpose, she's an old hag,"_ _I pulled away and winked at him, making him crack a small smile in return._

I shook my head clear of the memory, this library reminded me of my time in college. I began to fiddle with the charm of my necklace that laid against my hot skin on my chest. I sighed, turning around to make my way back to the younger mutants when I collided into something. I gasped in surprise, and stumbled lightly, as large hand clasped around my waist, steadying me. I glanced up into the eyes of the person I ran into, seeing Erik's peering right back at me.

I gulped, not even realizing how dry my throat was, "S-sorry," I muttered to him. I felt stupid at the moment, not even acknowledging that he was behind me, probably watching me have a flashback.

"No, it was my fault," His breath felt warm against my skin, and it only made it burn more. I gave a weak smile. "Are you alright?"

I smiled again, but I knew Erik could see how forced it was on my face, "I'm fine thanks for asking," I went to walk away, but something stopped me. I turned my head down seeing Erik's hand around my bicep.

"You are not fine. If you were fine, your eyes wouldn't be puffy. A telltale sign you've been crying," Erik pointed out calmly, letting go of my arm.

I raised my hand to my eyes and indeed they were still slightly puffy, if it was that obvious why hadn't Moira commented on that. Maybe it was just out of common courtesy. He held my gaze, was that concern I saw in his eyes? What was going on? Why is he doing this?

A frowned formed on my face, "Why are you being so kind?" I asked quickly.

"You think everyone you meet has some ulterior motive?" Erik asked back.

"From my experience, yes," I responded in a clipped tone. I thought twice about saying what crossed my mind, but it slipped out anyway/ "You would know," I added, and Erik was taken aback and took two steps away from me.

His fine brow arose with surprise and curiosity, "And what does that mean?"

"Someone had to have messed you up to make you all broody and vengeful all the time,"

A hint of a smirk began to emerge at the corner of his lips, "And what about you? Someone had to have made you so bitter and spiteful," He chuckled, staring at me.

The side of my lip curled up, "Oh, I don't know, America," I answered, quirking an eyebrow at him.

His blue eyes continued to remain on me as if he was still trying to read me. Something about the way his eyes fixated on me sent chills down my spine, however not in a bad way, it was more of the fact that his gaze held an intense meaning toward me. Erik simply did not want to look away.

"Claudia," he began calmly just before he stepped forward. "We are so alike it is uncanny," I rolled my eyes at him and Erik just smirked again, slowly backing away. "Are you coming?" Erik gestured toward the door. "Charles, Moira, and I are leaving soon," he stated, staring at me one more time as if still trying to figure me out.

I nodded, "Of course," I answered, walking past him trying to decipher what had just happened.

Was Erik playing a game with me? Why was he suddenly concerned about my well-being. Or was this just our thing now? Getting under each other's skin and toying with each other.

But I think the most logical conclusion I could come to is that Erik and I are possibly becoming friends.

* * *

 _ **AN: Clearly this chapter didn't follow the movie, but I hoped you like it anyways!**_


	4. Enter Sebastian Shaw

_**AN: Bringing you another chapter hot off the press.**_

* * *

Today we had the day off, since the teenagers proved to Charles and Erik they were not prepared to go along with them to ambush Shaw. So, I was once again approved as being the babysitter while Charles, Erik, and Moira go to Russia. I shook my head and chuckled at Erik's and I conversation before he left with Charles and Moira.

 _Erik laughed mockingly and clapped his hands together, "Are you sure you want her as a babysitter Charles? She did such a horrible job last time,"_

 _Irritation filled me, and I glared daggers at him "Careful, Erik," I said with mock sweetness. "Or you'll find yourself crying like a spoiled two year old," I threatened.  
_

 _He grinned boyishly despite my threat._

I was currently sitting on the couch with the others in an identical hangout room with another book in my hand. Except this one had a pinball machine, and overlooked a statueless courtyard. Plus, this room had all its windows. Angel, Hank, Raven, Sean, and I were all sitting on the leather couches. Honestly, it didn't surprise me when Sean sat with the girls and I, he just wouldn't give up. Alex and Darwin were playing on the pinball machines, and Alex was beating him rather badly.

"Jesus man, you are KILLING me." Darwin complained, as Alex focused intently at the pinball machine.

"Don't beat yourself up, I had a lot of spare time,"

Alex's last remark confused me. Hank had said that he'd been in prison for the last four years, and I don't think they gave their prisoners meaningless arcade machines. The thought quickly leaves my mind as I heard two CIA agents talking loudly.

"Oh, I didn't know the circus was in town!" an arrogant CIA agent caught my attention. "Hey, come on honey, give us a little uh..." doing a terrible impression of Angel's wings, I could hear her mutter 'no' under her breath, I couldn't help but feel sorry for her. "No? Come on, let's see the foot," the agent jeered.

I could feel the anger starting to rise up inside of me, as I felt the happiness in the room subsided. Hank got up and walked to the button that closes the curtains.

"There it is, come on Big Foot. Let's go," Hank saluted the man mockingly, as the curtains closed."Hey, come on. Hey!" As Hank sat back down, the room fell silent, except the soft pinging of the pinball machine.

"They're just guys being stupid," Raven comforted, just realizing how much this actually upset Angel.

"Guys being stupid I can handle. Okay, I've handled that my whole life!" she snapped. "But I'd rather a bunch of guys stare at me with my clothes off than the way these ones stare at me!" Angel snapped again, disheartening Raven, who still wasn't completely over last night's events.

More silence.

"At us," Raven added sadly, Angel turned away guiltily, for lashing out on Raven, but there was no way she was going to apologize for it.

A flood of self-consciousness and self-loathing assaulted me, I tried to focus on my physical surroundings, rooting my thoughts enough to sort out my emotions and bring them under control. My hands balled into fists, my entire body tense. I brought my hand to my temple and massaged it with two fingers in an attempt to ease the pain.

Raven's soft voice called across from me, "Sorry, Claudia. Did we bother you?"

"Bother her?" Angel scoffed, voice dripping with attitude. "How could we have bothered her? She has an invisible mutation, no one could ever bother her,"

I forced a smile. Her attitude was merely an obnoxious mask for her fragile heart. I set my copy down of _Jane Erye_ onto the table.

"You're right, Angel. The only thing I have to be bothered about is people wanting to see me swing from a tree," I quipped darkly. "And you know, gaining basic civil rights," I added, my eyes narrowed slightly.

Our bitter conversation is brought to an end by the abrupt sound of a thud coming from outside. We stared at each other in confusion before I stood up, sensing danger. We stayed still for a moment, listening to the thuds, there's silence and then there's a whooshing sound.

"This doesn't feel right," Darwin muttered, before striding over to the curtains and pressing the button to open them. Alex gives the pinball machine one last flick and then followed him. Outside, there was nothing. We gathered around the clear, glass window looked at each other, confused. I waited tersely, my eyes darting back and forth.

"Do you sense something, Claudia?" Raven asked.

"Something's wrong," I whispered, but only Raven heard me. She shot me a curious glance, but was stopped from saying anything by Alex.

"What is that?" Alex demanded, pointing at the black figures blocking the light of the moon.

The light made it only a silhouette, preventing us from seeing what it truly was, all we could see that a silhouette was holding up another silhouette.

And then it isn't.

I cried out in pain as I felt the fear and pain of a man dying strong in my mind. I tried to relax the man, but he was already dead. Just as I opened my eyes, a body came crumbling down to the ground and smashing instantly right in front of the window causing causing all of us to jump back in surprise. I let out a gasp as Angel and Raven let out a scream in horror, clutching tightly onto my arm. I heard more screams and felt more pain as more men started to fall from the sky.

Suddenly, the roof lights flickered on, the sky is littered with falling bodies crashing in various sights around the buildings, the sound of screams and smashing glass, filling our ears. Guards rushed out of the buildings, positioning themselves surrounding the window, blocking us from harms way. They signaled for us to move out of the way, as more attacks proceeded. I searched for the mind that kept killing the CIA agents, but couldn't seem to keep a right mind. Raven let out another scream as an agent tumbled from the sky and into the glass roof outside

Terror filled the room, seeping into my every pore.

"Get back! Get back! Do not leave that room, we are under attack!" A man without a gun shouted.

In a flash of flames, the red man dressed well in a suit appeared in a puff of smoke and we all screamed for the agents to turn around. Taking them by surprise. The guards taking a few moments for it to register before beginning to shoot at him. It was too late, he was gone.

The glass shattered as a bullet hit the window, and we rushed to duck behind the sofa, screams filled my ears. Darwin stood closest to the edge, his arms stretched out to shield us from the oncoming storm. A tornado appeared, swiftly making it's way around the other side of the building, ripping apart what Hank had called 'Cerebro'. I didn't want to watch Hank's pained expression, when he saw his hard work torn away, but I could feel Hank radiating sadness and frustration.

"Stay here, my ass!" Darwin shouted to us, making his way towards the door. Running out into the corridor, we were stopped by some more guards.

"GET BACK!" the agents screamed at us.

"We can help! We can help!" Darwin tried to plead, but we're just pushed back.

Deep down, I knew Darwin realized that we couldn't.

Raven's hysterical, a complete mess. I managed to calm her emotions down with my empathic powers, but she somehow overruled that and became anxious once more. A wave of heat hits me, followed by an immense explosion. Raven screamed as agents are sucked into the flames, and we run back to where we were. Met with more destruction, back into the room, the tornado was moving closer and most of the guards were dead, falling down, one by one. Raven sobbed louder and screamed again when an agent is launched through the only remaining window by the hurricane. I can't be the only person to notice that we've completely backed ourselves into a corner.

The red man stabbed the last agent and Raven whimpered. A good looking Spanish man and the one that closely resembled most people's portrayal of the devil, stepped over the window, entering the room, one on each side. We were closed in.

Someone fired another shot and Raven screamed again.

"Wait, wait! You want the mutants? They're right through that door! Just let us normal people go! We're no threa-" a muffled voice is cut off and Raven's face changed into one of disgust.

A helmeted man, who was easily in his forties, walked through the door. To be honest, he looked kind of stupid.

"Where is the telepath?" The man in the helmet asked, as if it were no big deal that they just killed hundreds of men.

"Not here," The devil looking man noted, you could tell who was in charge there and it definitely wasn't him.

"Too bad," The other man smiled. "Well, at least I can taking this silly thing off," he stated, pulling the helmet off and ran his fingers through his long hair, pushing it back into its place.

At least we agree on something, he does look entirely silly.

But how would that helmet protect his thoughts from a telepath like Charles? No one in the room could read his mind, but I could read his emotions and I knew that he was bad news, there was a danger radiating from him, anyone could feel that. My mind filled with the echoes of his thoughts tied to one specific emotion. Hatred. _War, survival, the strongest race._ He was thinking of things beyond what we were anticipating.

"Good evening," he addressed us. "My name's Sebastian Shaw. And I am not here to hurt you,"

I couldn't help but roll my eyes, _"Liar. Your little sidekicks just murdered a fleet of CIA agents,"_ I thought.

A lone agent appeared across the courtyard.

"Freeze!"

"Azazel?" Shaw lazily ordered

He disappeared, appearing again outside, swiftly killing the man and teleported back.

Shaw turned back to us, "My friends," He took another step towards us, handing his helmet to the Spanish man. "There's a revolution coming, when mankind discovers who we are, what we can do. Each of us will face a choice: be enslaved, or rise up to rule," His eyes lingered on me for longer than I would have liked. But Shaw was not done yet. "Choose freely, but know that if you are not with us then you are, by definition, against us,"

"So. You can stay, fight for the people that hate and fear you. Or, you can join me, and live like kings," he looked to the boys, none of them attempting to make a move. Then he looked to Angel, standing in front of me. "And queens," He holds his hand out to her and Angel took it with almost no hesitation. I couldn't help sending her a look of pure disgust.

"Angel..." Raven's voice dropped in disappointment, although I didn't particularly like her, it didn't mean I wanted this to happen.

"You kidding me?" Sean's face dropped, he enjoyed flirting with Angel the most, but I never imagined he would be this crushed.

Angel looked back at us, "Come on," she commanded, gesturing towards us. "We don't belong here and that's _nothing_ to be ashamed of,"

Darwin reached out to her, but Angel turned away, ignoring us.

"We have to do something," Raven insisted.

Alex and Darwin exchange a few harsh whispers. Alex pushed Darwin in the side and Darwin turned away.

"Stop. I'm coming with you," Darwin announced, stepping over what was left of the window. Angel smiled, clearly pleased someone had listened to her speech, even Shaw seemed momentarily pleased.

I watched in disbelief as Darwin moved towards the line of mutants. Shaw stepped towards him.

"Good choice. So tell me about your mutation," He said slyly.

"Well I adapt to survive," Darwin explained, Alex lead us into the center of the room. "So I guess that means I'm coming with you," Darwin finished.

Shaw nodded, "I like that," Shaw signaled for him to join Angel and Darwin stood next to Angel.

"ALEX!" Darwin yelled, forming a rock solid barrier and dipping Angel to protect her.

"Get down!" Alex shouted, shoving us out of harms way, sending rings of energy, launching at Shaw, Alex grinned momentarily before his face dropped.

We watched in horror as Shaw had somehow absorbed his energy. I raised my hand to send a telekinetic blast towards Shaw and that's when everything else became a blur, and before I knew it Azazel vanished, and appeared right in front of me within a blink an eye. His tail wrapped around my throat, I yelped lightly when my feet left the floor, kicking out blindly, but my five five frame wasn't really doing anything to stop this man who was nearly a foot taller than I was. I clawed at his tail so air could fill my lungs again, but it was a futile effort as he only tightened his grip

"Protecting your fellow mutants? That's a noble gesture," He shivered slightly, who wouldn't after absorbing that much power. Darwin got up, confused, and Angel moved back towards the Spanish man. "Feels good," Shaw shrugged his shoulders a little and let out a smirk.

"Azazel drop her," Azazel did as he was command, air filled my lungs but only momentarily. As soon as Azazel dropped me, Shaw's hand clasped around my neck, and brought me up off of my feet. I gagged on his choking grasp, my hands once again trying to claw it off my neck. "Now who's this?" Shaw wondered aloud a small sinister smile on his lips, his eyes scanning my body over.

The very air that he gave off was dangerous and intimidating. I mean that was obvious when he first walked through the doors, but it was made all the more clearer now that I was only inches from his face.

It was his eyes. Those eyes that looked right through me and held no warmth.

"Her name is Claudia," Angel spoke up. If Shaw wasn't choking the life out of me right now I would be livid with Angel telling him my name and for betraying us. "She can manipulate emotions, she could come with us," Angel suggested, with a rather large smile on her face.

"Yes, she could," Shaw agreed, nodding his head. "With your abilities, I'm sure you'll be very valuable to us. Your power is very interesting, _Claudia,_ " Shaw stated, and a shiver went down my spine when he said my name.

"No...it's not," I managed to utter out.

"Oh to me it is," Shaw disagreed, a menacing smile on his face. "With your abilities, I'm sure we'll be able to control anyone at will. We'll make an army. We'll be unstop-"

" _No!"_ I hissed.

"What?"

"Go...to...hell!" I wheezed out.

"Hmm, it's too bad really, a beautiful woman like you..I saw so much potential in you," Shaw snarled gleefully, then swung his free hand, as it connected to the right side of my face, some of the energy from Alex's power thrown with it, causing me to see stars on impact. He threw me into the wall, my limp body collided with the drywall.

The room seemed to fade, leaving stars in my eyes and I felt my adrenaline crash, but surprising felt more energy than I ever had before.

Shaw turned sharply to Darwin. Darwin goes to throw a punch, but is quickly blocked. Shaw grabbed his mouth. "Adapt to this," Shaw whispered, and we watch, horrified expressions on our faces, as he puts all of Alex's energy into Darwin's mouth.

I watched as darkness slowly crept into my vision as Shaw, Azazel, the Spanish man, and Angel disappeared into a burst of flames. That's when I see Darwin standing there, convulsing.

Darwin tried to find different ways to adapt, but Alex's power was able to destroy the barrier. I watched him turn to platinum, then rock as the plasma burnt within, the orange-red glow peeking out of the rock like lava until he turned to solid rock. Then he realized it just wasn't going to work. He faced Alex and the rest of us, the blonde's eyes widened with terror, as he watched his new friend slowly die. Darwin looked over at Alex with black eyes, as he reached out, wordlessly and the stone started to break apart again. Then the cracks of Darwin's form brightened, and he exploded into only bits and pieces.

And just like that, he was gone forever.

Everyone all stood for a few moments in silence. Then the whole cataclysm sunk in, and everyone began scrambling around. Hank ran out the door saying he was going to find a first aid kit for me, Sean and Raven took baby steps towards where Darwin had diminished, and Alex rushed over to me, examining me. I already felt my face was swelling black and blue, a little shadow of blood remained under my head.

My vision was almost completed darkened, but my eyes met Alex's and in that instant, I knew how much he was hurting. He practically killed a man. Just as the thought crossed my mind, Alex spoke.

"H-He's gone. I k-k- I-I kill-killed him," Alex stuttered, his expression full of devastation.

"No, you didn't," I whispered, feeling even more drained as the seconds passed. " _Trust me,_ "

" _Claudia_!"

I heard someone yell. But I couldn't tell who it was, for I slipped into unconsciousness and let the darkness envelope me before the person could call my name again.

~~~x~~~

When I awoke my body was no longer on the cold, hard ground of the rec room, but instead on the lumpy mattress I've become used to. Someone must have carried me. I managed to sit up a little less than an inch before my head started spinning and pain shot through my spine causing me to lie back down and gasp loudly.

Pain.

It's a slightly indescribable sensation; all one can really use is a mix of adjectives and synonyms, and even then one couldn't fully describe what they were feeling. Just what the pain feels like, using personifications and such. Right now, I felt like someone had beaten the tar out of me, which is what exactly happened. It hurt to breathe, it hurt to blink, it even hurt to think of even possibly moving again. I couldn't open my eyes, as they were held close with hard crust. I tried to push them open, but could only pry open my left eye, as the more I pushed myself in opening the right one, the more it hurt.

My brown orb peered around the room, my vision was still blurry. It was two o'clock in the morning if I read the time right. It had been fours hours since Darwin's death.

A tear rolled down my cheek, wiping it away. I couldn't tell if it was on my own volition or if I was just channeling everyone's emotions. I didn't want to cry, but I could no longer control it, when tears kept effortlessly sliding down my face. I looked through my tears, and I knew I wouldn't be sleeping for the rest of the night. I touched my head lightly, as I felt a long bandage wrapped around it. It was so sore, and gave little jolts of pain every time I picked up on someone's feelings.

I slowly slid out of the comforts of a bed that wasn't truly mine and let short, loud cry of pain as I moved. I stood up too quickly and a wave of dizziness hit me like a truck, causing me to plop back down onto the bed until it passed. I pushed myself up off the bed again and trudged to the door and into the hallway, I was put in a room at the end of the corridor that seemed to remain untouched by the events, I realized nobody would dare go back to our old rooms, they were just rubble and dust.

It was everywhere. The scent of burned flesh made my stomach turn, and the smoke stung my eyes. I felt sick to my stomach, but there was nothing to vomit. I could feel sweat trickle down the back of my neck, mixing painfully with the open wounds there, but I didn't close my eyes. My stomach was twisted into knots, and it was all I could do not to break down and cry. The pain from everyone else was what was kill me.

 _Fear. Anger. Despair. Disgust. Malice. Painpainpainpainpain-_

I threw myself against the cold, concrete wall in effort to keep myself upright and placed my overheated forehead on the wall to ground me. I breathed deeply, my chest heaving and summoned up what little strength I had to push on.

I wandered more and I found an abandoned bathroom with shattered mirrors and glass coating the ground. I lingered in the doorway, not wanting to take the chance that I might cut my feet open on the shattered fragments. But one of the mirrors was intact, except for a slight, thin crack in the upper right hand corner. It was across from me and I caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror. That in itself wasn't unusual, but it wasn't my face that stared back at me.

My hair was limp black and my eye a dull, muddy color. I stepped closer to the mirror, forgetting about the damned glass. And dear Lord, my face. I looked paler than usual and exhausted, worn out. Not to mention a god damn black eye.

I raked my fingers through my black hair to sort out the tangles, letting out a huff of air, a sardonic laugh escaped from lips.

 _"This is what I left the comforts of New York for? Death and destruction?"_

* * *

 _ **AN: Here we are at the end of the chapter! This was probably one my favorite chapters to write for this story, hope you enjoyed it!**_


	5. A Place to Call Home

_**AN: Thank you to everyone who's supported this story! Sorry for the wait, this week has been so hectic and I've been procrastinating so hard on a paper I had to do.**_

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We sat on a concrete bench outside the destroyed CIA headquarters, waiting for Charles and Erik to return. The sun was just rising over the tops of the trees, illuminating the wrecked building. Alex had his head in his hands and Sean was hiding behind his sunglasses in hope no one could see how much this was affecting him. Raven hadn't regained her usual perkiness and Hank still appeared lost in his thoughts. None of them wanted to talk about what had happened. All needing time alone to grieve over Darwin's death.

I used Raven's shoulder to rest my head on, my head was pounding as if someone were taking a jackhammer to it. And my body, it felt like someone just flattened me out with a rolling pin, my body ached everywhere. I watched as a sleek, black town car screeched to a stop in front of us, Raven quickly stood, letting Alex scoot over, and let me use his shoulder to rest my head.

"Raven!" Charles called, hurriedly making his way through the debris to clasp his sister in a hug.

Erik and Moira hurried over to the boys and I, "Are you okay?" Erik asked worried.

I winced as I lifted my head, "Is that worry I detect, Lehnsherr?" I rasped out, my voice scratchy and strained, but still managing to give him a half-smile.

"She's recuperating, she has multiple bruises and a black eye too. She's lucky she doesn't have a severe concussion, only a mild one," Hank informed him, Erik fluttered his hand over my badly bruised temple and eye. He clenched his jaw.

"We've made arrangements for you to be taken home," Charles instructed with very little authority in his voice, and I turned my attention to him. There was a moment of silence as his words sunk in.

"No," I gave Charles a hard, determined stare.

I have a black eye. I have a black eye! Call me shallow, but Shaw ruined my face, one of my most prized possessions. Not only that, I almost ended up like Darwin, dead. There's no way in hell, I'm returning home with all of these points lined up without getting revenge. Shaw made this personal the moment he walked through the rec room door and laid his eyes on me.

"We're not going home," Sean chimed in.

Charles looked back and forth between the two of us with a hawk like gaze, "What?"

"He," the redhead gestured towards Alex. "Isn't going back to prison,"

"He killed Darwin!" Alex protested.

I'm glad Alex has accepted that this isn't his fault. There's no way he could of known that was going to happen.

"All the more reason for you to leave," Charles insisted. "This is over,"

Raven settled a hand on the telepath, "Charles, Darwin is dead, and we can't even bury him," Raven started. Alex winced and hung his head. Maybe he's not quite as over it as I thought. "Claudia was knocked unconscious, and we were scared she would never wake up. She nearly died Charles," Raven finished exhausted, as Charles looked at me.

Erik finally spoke up, "We can avenge them," his words catch us off guard.

Sean and Alex both looked up with hopeful expressions on their face. Vengeance? That's something I can get behind.

"Erik, a word please," Charles sighed, dragging Erik out of earshot. It wasn't a question but as always the request was polite belying Charles obvious indignation. We watched in silence as they had a heated debate, before Charles sighed and walked back towards us. "We'll have to train," he announced. "All of us. Yes?"

"Yeah," Alex is the first of us to say anything. He's quickly followed by a chorus of "yeah's" and "yes's".

"Well, we can't stay here," Hank pointed out. "I mean, even if they reopened the department, it's not safe," he sighed a sigh of defeat. "We've got nowhere to go,"

We're all quiet.

Charles smiled to us, "Yes, we do," Charles corrected him.

~~~x~~~

 _"Rich people always know where to build their houses_ ," I thought as I surveyed Charles family's estate from the edge of his porch.

His home was a huge sandstone manor house with thousands of glass stained windows which peered out onto the massive, picturesque English lawns and fountains of the gardens surrounded by sunlight and the distant sound of radio dishes humming in the background. We were in New York, but this was very different from the bustling city of New York that I'm accustomed to, packed full of tourists.

"Whoa..." I say under my breath, staring up at the mansion in front of me.

It's enormous not to mention beautiful.

"This is yours?" Sean asked in a very disbelieving tone, dumbfounded at the huge mansion.

"No. It's ours," Charles corrected him, a smile on his face.

We're quiet for a moment.

"Honestly Charles, I don't know how you survived. Living in such hardship," Erik's stated, his voice laced with sarcasm.

"Well, it was a hardship softened by me," Raven stated, moving towards Charles and being kissed lovingly on the side of her head.

"Come on," she sighed, "Time for the tour,"

We followed Raven inside, waiting for the building's full grandeur to sink in. The Xavier mansion was _huge_ , I don't think I can stress that enough.

Raven had dragged us _everywhere_ in the house. She showed us every level of the home, I was almost positive about it. I had never been to a mansion before, and I didn't really live in a large house beforehand. I had lived in a small house with my family, but it was big enough for the six of us and then when I moved away to New York, I lived in a small apartment complex.

I was sure that Charles could fit in an entire school in his home if he wished. Raven's room and the boys rooms were farther down the hallway. While Charles, Erik, and I were in a different corridor away from the young mutants.

I was in a room almost fit for a queen. The large four poster bed stood in the middle of the room with two cherry wood night stands on each side. One crystal vase filled with red roses adorned the night stand on the right side, whilst the other crystal vase stood on top of a round table cherry wood table in the center of the room. A chandelier hung right above said table and landscape paintings all over the dark walls. Lastly, there an ornate chair that was set by the large Edwardian windows that had bright light penetrating through, this house must have been passed on from generation to generation.

"There's a bathroom through that door right there," Raven instructed, pointing to the door on left-hand wall of the room. "And here are some soaps and shampoos for you. Also, some of my old clothes, they should fit for one night. Until we can buy you some more clothes," she added, handing me the basket of soaps. "I hope this is alright,"

"It's perfect," I breathed out, dumbfounded and overwhelmed at the wealth laid out before me.

Raven smiled nodding her head and exited the room, leaving my door cracked. My eyes jumped form one item to another in the basket. Coconut scented soap. Vanilla shampoo. Lavender conditioner. Kiwi body scrub. Lavender-scented body oils. Strawberry-Vanilla moisturizing cream. A pink washcloth. A brush. Pajamas that looked so _soft_. So _comfortable_. A towel that was so white and fluffy I dared not touch it. I walked towards the bathroom, opening the door and turning on the light, and I was in awe. The bathroom was white with gold trim around _everything_. I felt out of place and filthy in the spotless expanse of porcelain and granite. I had never seen such a beautiful wash closet in all my life.

This bathroom was meant for queens, I was sure of it. I snapped out my trance and set everything down where it was supposed to be. I began unpacking my suitcase and putting my clothes in a drawer and closet, I barely brought anything with me, so most of my clothes fit into one drawer and some in the closet.

There was a knock on my door, "It's open," I stated, turning around after closing the drawer.

Charles walked in, "I'm just checking to see how you're settling in," He said, slightly closing the door behind him.

"I'm fine, thank you," I replied, a small smile on my face. "My head is killing me though...along with the rest of my body,"

"Shaw did this?" Charles asked, as he gently grasped my chin and observed the bruises on my face.

I winced slightly as my face was still tender, "No Charles, I ran into a door," I deadpanned, rolling my eyes. "Yes, it was Shaw," I answered, as Charles let go of my chin. "Who else could've done this?" I added walking in front of the mirror on the vanity dresser and looked at my marred face, it was black, blue, purple, and every in color in between. "God, I look terrible," I commented, tilting my face in different angles.

Charles walked over to me with his hands in his pockets, Charles stood in front of me slid one hand out of his pocket. He reached out and tucked piece of my hair behind my ear. "You should see my view. I think you look beautiful," Charles complimented softly, smiling at me slightly. I scoffed and stepped away from him, nodding my thanks. Heat flushed my cheeks and I lowered my head, a small smile gracing my lips, "Come on don't hide from me now," Charles joked, gently lifting my chin up.

Charles grinned widely and I narrowed my eyes at him and crossing my arms, "I bet you say to all the girls you meet. What's next? Are you going to point out how ' _groovy_ ' my mutation is?" I questioned, my smile widened.

Charles shook his head and chuckled, "Raven told you that didn't she?" My smile only grew bigger. "Damn, I suppose I can't use my famous line on you,"

"Well, if this is your way of flirting Charles," I began, knowing full it was. "I must say, this is a vast improvement," I smiled mischievously.

"Mmm, I'm glad you noticed," Charles chuckled, matching my playful tone.

"Charles wants us to come downstairs. It's dinnertime..." Raven announced as she burst into my room, trailing off.

Charles snatched his hand from my chin and let an awkward cough as I thanked the lord above my skin color, so my cheeks wouldn't be visibly red.

"Thank you Raven," I squeaked out, embarrassed.

Raven's eyes darted between the two of us for another second, "Your welcome..." Raven responded slowly, before leaving my the room.

Charles and I stood in an awkward silence for few moments before he finally broke it, "We should go and eat dinner," Charles suggested awkwardly, extending his arm to usher me out of my room

"Dinner sounds like a lovely idea," I commented, and quickly shuffled out of my room and into the hallway.

We all sit around the dining table in silence. It's huge, and even with seven of us sat around it we barely fill half the table. The scraping of silverware against expensive china echoed throughout the room.

I picked at my plate of food.

"Training starts tomorrow," Charles announced. "It's going to be a long day tomorrow. So, please, everyone get plenty of sleep tonight," Charles instructed, his eyes traveling across the table at all of us.

"What's the plan tomorrow?" I asked curiously, before taking a sip of my tea, my eyes meeting Charles' over the rim of the cup.

"It's going to be hectic, I won't lie, but I'm going to work with each of you tomorrow to the best of my ability," Charles explained, his face lighting up at the idea.

"Well, there's only one of you, Charles. Should be interesting to see how this plays out tomorrow," I commented, mirth creeping into my words.

"I know, we have a lot of work cut out for us," Charles smiled widely, as if he had just found the best treasure in the world.

After dinner finished, all of the younger mutants were settled in the living room, happily buzzing with excitement at the thought of tomorrow. While the adults, excluding Moira she went to report in with her boss, were in the kitchen. Charles and Erik wanted to know what happened the night of the attack and in return I wanted to know what happened in Russia.

"Your powers didn't work on him?" Erik asked curiously.

"There was so much death and chaos around us, I was too scared to even try," I answered, a frown forming on my face. "But did I know what he wanted," I recalled, as I bit the nail of my right thumb. "What happened to Shaw being in Russia?" I asked, leaning back on the counter with my arms crossed.

"I guess he changed his mind," Erik answered vaguely.

I rolled my eye, "Gee, you don't think I know that," I retorted, pointing to my black eye. A smile stretched out on Erik's face. He threw his head back and laughed. "Laugh all you want, Erik. But seriously, Shaw's wants were _very_ specific," I stated grimly, Charles had been staring off but he met my eyes at my comment.

That shut Erik up, "Why do you say that?"

"He has to be stopped," I began, tearing my eyes away from Charles' and looking back at Erik's eyes which were fixed on me already. "He wants the humans dead. But what he wants, his plan, it'll kill us all," I stated grimly, and an unsettling silence fell upon the three of us over my startling revelation.

~~~x~~~

I huffed and fell back onto the soft and warm comforts of what is now _my_ bed. I touched the fabric on my new bed, breath hitching as I felt how _soft_ it was. It was silky and smooth and felt like a cloud. Just like the bath towel. Heart pounding with excitement, I crawled under the covers and wrapped myself in them tightly. I felt safe. Comfortable. The most relaxed I had ever been. Like nothing could touch me.

I stared up at the white ceiling, and reflected about the past 48 hours, it all seemed so unreal. A light knock on my door disrupted my thought, and and the door opened slightly. It was Raven. She smiled sweetly at me, closing the door and proceeded to walk in and sit on the edge of my bed as I pushed myself from up laying down into a seated position.

"Are you doing okay, Dia? I hope you don't mind me calling you that,"

I shook my head and moved over so Raven could fully sit on the bed.

"This more than okay...this is amazing," I laughed lightly.

Raven laughed and tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear, "Yeah it is" Raven agreed smiling. "Oh yeah, I came by to see if you needed any more spare clothes? Your suitcase seemed fairly small and doesn't seem life you packed enough to end up living here!"

"I wouldn't want to bother you with that. I'll be fine for now," I protested, waving my hand.

"Nonsense. I'll bring you a few clothes from my closet and then we can go shopping sometime this week!" Raven explained excitedly.

I threw my hands up in surrender knowing I couldn't talk Raven out of going shopping, but I did slightly furrow my brow because I had a sneaking suspicion that going shopping was not her main reason of coming in here.

"Raven, why did you actually come here? I know it wasn't to talk about shopping," I began, with a grin on my face. "I didn't even need to use my powers to figure that out," I added, proudly grinning.

Raven mirrored my expression before lowering her face and letting out a laugh, "You've caught me," Raven stated, raising her hands in mock surrender too. "Well, I was just curious about something..." Raven started, but trailed off and shrugged her shoulders.

"About what?" I questioned leaning forward, curious to know what Raven was getting at.

"Do you like him?" Raven asked, with an eager smile on her face.

"Who?" I asked, confusion clearly written on my face.

Raven made an obscure and vague motion with her hands, "You know!" Raven exclaimed, practically squealing.

I coughed, before slowly answering the question, "Well, Charles is pretty handsome. As is Erik. They're both attractive,"

"I KNEW IT!" Raven yelled, jumping off the bed, "YOU TOTALLY THINK CHARLES IS HOT!"

"Shut up, Raven!" I whisper-yelled, pulling Raven back down onto my bed. "They could hear you!" I exclaimed, almost forgetting that Erik's and Charles' rooms were only a few doors down from mine.

"Oh yeah, like Charles totally doesn't think you're hot too. He stares at you all the time, when you're not looking. You two should just make out and get rid of the sexual tension,"

"There's no sexual tension, Raven," I argued, rolling my eyes. "That's ridiculous," I stated, shaking my head in disagreement.

"So, you and Charles totally weren't staring at each other's lips earlier when I opened the door?" Raven interjected, raising a skeptical eyebrow. "You could cut the tension with a knife, Dia. You two totally have a thing,"

I laughed, "You're crazy Raven,"

"I barley know him, how do I know if I like him or not? I don't. You're basing everything off of physical attraction, I'm attracted to someone for their mind and personality," I explained, almost as if I was lecturing her, "Not, that I'm looking for commitment. I'm not really looking for anything right now," I shrugged, giving Raven a half-smile. "Speaking of..." I trailed off, looking at Raven expectantly. "You and Hank, huh?" I asked teasingly, wiggling both my eyebrows.

Raven blushed, "We weren't talking abo-"

Laughter bubbled out of me, "You liiiike him, you liiiiike him!" I chanted over and over, pointing at her.

Raven didn't object as her face started taking on another, darker, shade of red.

I was genuinely happy for what felt like the first time in forever, talking to a new friend about trivial things like crushes, just to have fun. I had never felt that kind of happiness with my friends back in the city, who never truly understood what I was feeling, I could truly never be myself. But now, it's different I'm around people who understood my struggle, and chose to not embrace it, but not blatantly ignore either it. It was different to just let go for once. I almost felt in that moment that I could live a normal life.

Almost.

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 _ **AN: And now they're all one happy family living under the same roof!**_


	6. Training Day

_**AN: I'm happy to see this story is starting to pick up some traction, thank you to everyone who has followed this story!**_

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I awoke for what felt like the first time, the sun burned brightly in my eyes and I scanned my surroundings extravagant yet classic furnishings lined the lush room, I lay in the middle of the huge king bed adorned with what seemed far too many big white fluffy pillows. I laid in my bed debating if it was really worth it leaving the comfort of the warmth from the blankets. My debate was ended when two brisk knocks echoed in my room.

"Come in!" I called, rolling over onto my other side to see who was entering.

It was Raven, once again and she was holding a pile of grey clothes.

She walked into my room with a smile on her face, "Morning! You look rather comfortable," Raven commented, with a chuckle as she walked into my room.

"Oh, I never want to leave this bed Raven!" I exclaimed laughing, stretching out my limbs. "This has to be the most comfortable bed I have ever slept in," I added, grinning.

"I'm glad you like it," Raven said happily. "Charles says we have to wear these to training," She sat down on the bed and passed the clothes to me. It's the plainest sweatsuit I have ever seen in my life and a pair of sneakers that hopefully fit my feet. I turned my nose up at the drab and plain garments that I was given. Raven just laughed at my disgusted expression. "Yeah, that's sort of what I thought. Here," she said, this time passing me a grey sleeveless sweatshirt top and a men's wifebeater. "It doesn't match your fashion sense, but I think you might prefer this," I smiled gratefully as Raven got up and walked out of the room.

I slipped out of the blankets and planted my feet on the cool wooden floors and stretched out

"Breakfast is being served!" Raven called from over shoulder from the hallway.

I pushed myself off the edge bed and made my way to the bathroom, but stopped briefly to look at my reflection in my vanity mirror. I pouted at what I saw, I'm not sure what I was expecting really, my face still looked pretty awful, but not as awful as it did yesterday. I sighed and continued my short journey to the adjoining bathroom, flipping the lights on as I entered and stopped at the sink. I twisted the brass knobs and toss some water onto my face, the water awakening me even further. I opened the medicine cabinet to find a toothbrush and toothpaste inside just waiting to be used. With a quick brush of my teeth and drying my face off, I left the bathroom and entered the bedroom taking a seat on the stool in front of the vanity.

I tugged my nightcap off tossing it onto the vanity, I pulled the rollers from my black locks one by one, letting the curls fall against my shoulders. I combed my fingers through my hair styling it to my liking before getting up and flicking my hand to close the door so I can change into the plain sweats that were given to me. Where the sweats lacked in the fashion department they more than made up for it in the comfort department. Although, I didn't luck out with the sneakers, they're a bit tight for my feet, but hopefully I can stretch them out.

I opened the door walking out of my room and down the long hallway slowly making my way to the stairs, and onto the kitchen which I could tell was bustling with activity. The smell of toast, bacon, and eggs wrapped around my nose.

I roamed the hallway of the enormous mansion, as I picked out little details and artifacts set on tables. I glimpsed at the old photos of Charles and his parents, relatives, and such. My hand lightly trickled over a silver frame of Charles and Raven smiling at each other, as they sat on a picnic blanket, behind them settled an enormous pond with a dock and boats. The photo must have been set up, but they looked so happy together, and it made my heart warm. I continued on to the grand staircase, beginning my descent.

"Why are you walking so slow?" Erik asked, from the bottom of the steps gazing at me almost amused. "Do you think you're in the Miss America Pageant?" Erik questioned, arching a brow and lightly chuckling.

I smirked at his comments and straightened my posture before placing one hand on the banister letting it glide along as I used my other to mimic my best impression of the Miss America wave with a smile on my face; keeping my poise as I descended the last step right where Erik was.

"Now where's my crown, Lehnsherr?" I asked, my lips forming into a smirk and playfully tapping him on his chest before walking past him the smirk still on my lips. "You better not have crushed it!" I chirped, looking over my shoulder referring to his powers. Erik let out a short laugh and pushed himself off the banister following after me with a grin on his face.

Walking into the kitchen with Erik not far behind, I saw Raven and Charles by the stove cooking away on the traditional breakfast. Sean, Alex, and Hank were all seated at the large kitchen table. Sean looked half dead as he ate his bowl of cereal and Alex had to nudge him slightly to wake him up. Hank looked nervous as usual, Moira immediately looked up from the newspaper she was reading when she heard me enter the room, smiling at me warmly.

"Claudia," Sean called drowsily, causing me to stop and turn my head in his direction. "How is it that even in the plainest clothes, you're still exceedingly beautiful?" Sean wondered, a boyish grin appearing on his face.

I shook my head at the red-haired boy, "Your attempts to woo me Sean, will always amuse me," I chuckled warmly, clutching both of my hands over my heart much to the disappointment of Sean.

"Good morning, Claudia!" Charles greeted happily, taking his eyes from the stove where he just finished with the egg he was cooking.

Raven placed a plate in front of me, "Hope you brought your appetite, Dia!" Raven grinned.

"I don't what has gotten into her today, but she's a bit more chipper than usual," Charles smiled, as his "sister" glared at him.

"I'm just glad I finally have another girl to talk to instead of you," Raven explained, and I laughed at the two bickering back and forth.

"I hope the rest of your night was well?" Charles asked sitting down in front of me with his own plate.

Raven and I looked at each other simultaneously and smiled at each other before giggling like two schoolgirls remembering what we discussed yesterday. Charles' eyes darted between us, confused as to why we were laughing.

"What are you two giggling about?" Charles asked, a smile creeping on his face.

"It's nothing Charles," I reassured, mirroring his smile. "It's just an inside joke, right Raven?" I asked, deflecting the attention to her.

Yep!" Raven agreed also smiling. "Let's eat!" Raven encouraged.

~~~x~~~

Charles wanted to train with the younger mutants first due to them not having a lot of control of their powers unlike Raven, Erik, and I since we fairly mastered our mutation. Raven and I took it upon ourselves to build up our cardio and decided to run laps around the mansion, the gravel driveway that surrounded the mansion was perfect for running.

My sneaker-clad feet crunched against the gravel, my feet hitting the ground in the shoes that were much too tight for my taste. Raven and I ran around the mansion grounds my hair dancing across my shoulders as I did, much to my annoyance.

"You've got to let me borrow one of those," I insisted, as I matched pace with Raven on the end of our third lap.

"Here," Raven slid another black hair tie from her wrist and handed it to me, which I took with a grateful expression and used it to tie my hair up as we jogged beside one another.

"There. How do I look?"

"Pretty, but bruised," Raven admitted with a huff of laughter.

"Ugh, I know," I groaned looking up as we rounded the front of the mansion, watching how the clouds moved in the sky to show glimpses of the sun that promised to shine later on.

Raven squinted her eyes at my face, "If you squint, you can see the bruises starting to turn yellow," she commented, with a smile trying to find a bright side.

"Wonderful," I deadpanned, rolling my eyes, as we came to a complete stop, both of us were catching our breath. "Come on, let's go inside for a well deserved break," I suggested breathlessly. Raven agreed with a nod and the two of us entered through the back door of the mansion.

Making our way through the back foyer hallway stopping shortly so that we could grab towels to wipe off the sweat. As we entered the living room I spotted Charles leading Alex somewhere who had a naked mannequin underneath his arm, causing me to raise a questioning eyebrow.

"Do I want to know what you're planning to do with that?" I asked mirth laced into my question, wiping the small amount of sweat that formed on my forehead.

Charles smiled, "The mannequin is for target practice for Alex's session," Charles explained, nodding his head toward the mannequin. "Have a nice run?" Charles asked, shoving his hand into his pant pocket.

"Refreshing, thank you for asking," Raven beamed, before making her way to the kitchen for a drink.

"We're going to the bunker for this session, do you want to join us?" Charles questioned, beginning to walk in the direction of where this bunker is supposed to be.

"There's a bunker in your home?" I asked back in shock, quickening my pace to catch up with them.

"My stepfather took the possibility of a nuclear war quite seriously," Charles began, looking over at me as we made our way under the mansion and led us down another set of stairs. "He was quite a strange fellow, anyway that's why he had this bunker built down here," Charles explained, as he opened the door to the bunker and switch the lights on. The lights flickered to life one by one illuminating the empty, spacious room. "Thought we could use it as a practice room of sorts," Charles stated leading us to the end of the bunker where the mannequin would be placed.

"You don't think I'm gonna blow through the walls?" Alex asked, unsure that the plan was a smart one.

"He had this place built to withstand a nuclear bomb," Charles chuckled. "I think it can handle you, Alex," Charles reassured, as Alex placed the mannequin down onto the floor.

"You know, when I do this bad things can happen," Alex warned us, as we walked back to end we entered through.

"That's because you can't control it. It controls you," Charles pointed out. I made note of what Charles said, it was quite useful in a way. "That's why we're here, Alex. It's why we're training," Charles continued, giving Alex a pat on the arm. "Now, Claudia, I want you to stand beside Alex and observe for me,"

"Observe?" I gave him an incredulous look. "Charles, have you seen Alex's power in action? I want to live, thank you very much,"

"Claudia is right," Alex agreed, glancing over at me. "If you're serious about me doing this, you might wanna get back," Alex looked from Charles to me.

I complied and followed Charles to the doors, "Shall we shut the doors?" I questioned, secretly pleading he said yes.

"Yeah,"

"Oh thank god," I breathed out, closing the doors shut and I looked to Charles who just nodded.

"Whenever you're ready," Charles called out to Alex.

"I think you're secretly trying to get rid of me Charles," I suggested grinning, and leaned against the door with my folded across my chest.

"Blasphemy!" Charles cried, with a grin on his face. "Now love, why would I ever want to put an incredible woman like you in harm's way?" Charles inquired, leaning against the door frame.

I bit my lip, smiling through the action and shook my head. I opened my mouth to respond but then a loud bang echoed in the bunker, Alex had aimed at something. The green light by the door turned to red and the two of us smiled, hopeful. Charles opened the door and we were both about to step inside until we saw the fiery blaze in front of us.

"Oh, my God!"

Charles grabbed the fire extinguisher as I attempted to go all the way inside the bunker to witness the full carnage of Alex's power, but Charles ushered for me to stay outside. What do you know, chivalry isn't dead after all. Alex and I looked around at the flaming walls, watching Charles run around with an extinguisher, an action that Charles didn't take so kindly.

"Alex, for God's sake, pick up a fire extinguisher and help me!" Charles barked angrily at him, pointing at the other extinguisher.

My eyes were almost comically wide, there was so much anger in Charles' voice that it didn't even sound like him. His words were spat out harshly as if they burned. I never ever heard Charles raise his voice, or even lose his temper.

"Why are you yelling at me? I warned you!" Alex reminded, in an angry, defensive tone.

"I'm sorry Alex, but in the field you could've killed one of your teammates!" Charles argued, the anger still flaming his words.

That's when I was barraged by a feeling of pain and betrayal so intense it took my breath away and I place my hand on my chest to catch my breath.

Alex turned from the extinguisher, "He asked me to cover him!" Alex snapped, and I realized who's emotions just assaulted me and why they came onto me so abruptly.

Alex inferred that Charles was talking about Darwin.

 _"Charles," I began, lifting my barrier temporarily. "He's taking the comment the wrong way,"_

Charles looked at me, the realization shining in his eyes, "Alex, that's not what I meant, I'm sorry," Charles apologized softly, focusing his attention on Alex again.

"I didn't want to get involved, it's not my fault!" Alex shouted, running out of the bunker and brushing past my shoulder.

I pushed myself off the door, "Alex!" I called after him, knowing it pointless, he's still sensitive about Darwin's death.

I sighed and turned back around and entered the fiery bunker just as Charles let out a sigh of his own, putting the extinguisher down.

"Well, that just went lovely," Charles letting out another sigh, raking his hands through his brown locks in frustration.

"Hey, you didn't mean it that way," I objected, walking over to him and stopping when I was in front of him. "Charles, please don't beat yourself up, you had the right intentions," I reminded.

"What good are they if I'm just going to yell at him for not being able to control his power?" Charles challenged, bringing his hand to his face and dragging it down. "How bad is the damage Claudia?" Charles asked, his blue eyes shining brighter because of the flames.

"You definitely struck a chord," I began, Charles opened his mouth, but I raised my hand silencing him. "It's nothing that you can't fix Charles. Just give him time," I explained gently, reaching out and rubbing his arm soothingly wanting to ease the stress and fear away from his shoulders. "I think Alex can control it, the matter is convincing himself that he can do it without hurting anyone," I added, giving his arm a squeeze.

Charles took my hand in his own, "Claudia Walker, what would I do without you?" Charles asked, with a grin slowly forming on his face as he placed quick kiss to the backside of my hand.

I laughed briefly looking down and back up to Charles' trademark handsome grin, "I don't know Charles, let's hope we never have to come to such a situation," I stated, slipping my hand out of his. I turned around and grabbed the other fire extinguisher that was still mounted to the wall. "Now let's put this fire out, we could make a game out of it!" I suggested chuckling, looking over my shoulder

~~~x~~~

Once the fire was all put out, the two of us walked back upstairs. Alex left most likely taking refuge in his room, whilst Charles searched for Sean and I went to speak to Alex. I jogged up the flight of stairs and walked down the wooden hallway trying to determine which room is Alex's, if we had name tags on each door this process would be so much easier. I lowered my barriers to find Alex's emotional trace.

He was the personification of guilt.

I stopped at a door at the end of the hall, I knocked on the door twice, "Alex?" I called, but I didn't get a response. "Alex, I'm coming in, if that's alright with you?" I asked, and the only answer I got was silence.

I twisted the doorknob, pushing the door open and there sat Alex on his bed with his head hanging low, I closed the door behind me and took a seat next to him on his bed He didn't acknowledge my presence and I wasn't offended by it, he was mainly thinking about Darwin. Alex took a deep breath, closing his eyes as he did so. I couldn't help but feel sorry for him, he thought it was his fault. I didn't even know how to convince him that it wasn't. It's probably a lost cause, but I wasn't giving up.

"Alex, please stop blaming yourself," I frowned, rubbing his shoulder soothingly. He turned his head to look at me, jaw clenched, his expression unreadable. I felt like I was talking to a brick wall, there was no getting through to him. "Alex," I begged. "When are you going to realize it was not your fault. It was Shaw's. Okay?" I couldn't help but think I got through to him for a second, before he pushed himself up from the bed and walked towards the window. He looked out his window, hiding his emotions perfectly, most likely with experience.

"It was my power that killed Darwin," Alex spoke somberly, his arms crossed against his chest. "Nothing you do or say, can change that," He added, looking me straight in the eyes.

I was speechless, I didn't have any comforting words to tell him, and I understood that it wouldn't change his mind, not in the slightest. I stood up from Alex's bed sighing, making my way to the door. I opened the door, glancing at Alex one last time and he just turned his attention back to staring at the window and I left the room with a soft click of the door closing.

I traveled from the way I came before and walked back down the stairs and into the living room which Charles, Sean, and Moira were currently occupying.

"Ah, there you are Claudia! Come on, we were just about to head out," Charles stated, motioning for me to come with them. Charles picked a pane of glass, which I guess just happened to be lying around in the mansion, we walked outside to the perfectly trimmed lawn. "How is he?" Charles asked quietly, only loud enough for me to hear him.

"Still very upset," I answered, just as quiet and locked eyes with Charles. "I tried my best, I'm sorry Charles," I stated, giving him an apologetic smile.

"I know you did," Charles reassured, and walked ahead of us to set up the glass on a stand whilst Moira and I made small talk. Moira came to join us since she had nothing to do in the house.

Charles his way back to the three of us, Moira handed Charles and I thick earmuffs to protect our ears from the sonic blast of Sean's scream. The three of us slid on the earmuff simultaneously, once our ears were protected Charles gave Sean a thumbs up to Sean. Sean let out a whistle-like scream and the window of glass shattered with the shards of glass falling to the ground. All three of us still winced at the sharp, high-pitched sound even with the earmuffs on. Sean smirked watching the shattered glass fall.

"Alright, now that's pretty impressive, but now it's important to learn control," Charles told Sean beaming, as we all pulled off our earmuffs. "What you're doing is incredible," "What you're doing is hitting a pitch of sound waves that have the same resonant frequency as the glass," Charles pointed to the, now broken window in front of us. "That's why it shatters," Charles explained, clearly getting into his professor mode.

"That was pretty remarkable Sean," I complimented, Sean looked at me and smiled, his cheeks turning rosy red.

"Think of this like any other muscle in the body," Charles gestured to his neck. "You can control it," I smiled at Charles' analogy and nodded in agreement. "This time try higher frequency, much higher," Charles suggested, slipping his earmuffs back on.

"There's no glass," Sean stated, pointing to the window pane, but Charles couldn't hear him with the earmuffs on.

Charles lifted the earmuff off his ear, "I'm sorry, what?" Charles asked confused.

"There's no glass," Sean stated, repeating himself.

"Trust him, he's a professor," Moira reminded, with a grin.

I smiled as well and both of us placed our earmuffs back onto our heads.

Sean inhaled deeply bringing his shoulders to his ears ready to let out another sonic scream, but Charles stopped him by placing his hand on Sean's chest making Sean exhale all the air he just inhaled. Sean rubbed his throat pausing momentarily before letting out an ear piercing shriek, but this time it was different. The frame of the window began to bend backwards due to Sean's scream, a feat that I would've been impressed with had it not been for the sudden wave of nausea that struck me. I squeezed my eyes shut and breathed shallowly, hoping to tame the horrible feeling in my stomach. However, I felt it was a losing battle.

I dropped down to the ground as tidal waves of nausea came crashing over me, I gagged hard but nothing came out. I opened my eyes to see that I wasn't the only who was being effected by Sean's scream. Charles and Moira had the same symptoms of me just as Sean's body dropped to the ground out of exhaustion.

"What happened?" Sean asked, out of breath.

"Fluids in the ear canal, apparently the disruption causes na-nausea," Charles explained, choking back a gag. "Could come in quite handy, well done," Charles congratulated, and lightly hit Sean on the stomach.

~~~x~~~

I was determined to prolong working out as much as possible so I went to go see Hank's new lab. It was a large room with a high angled ceiling, a beautiful brick fireplace sits unused in the far corner. An oriental rug sits on the floor in front of it. Beyond the rug, there are two old-fashioned red arm chairs and an oak bookcase filled with books on biology and genetics stood tall next to a wide blackboard. I focused my gazed to the center of the room which was full of the latest technology that science could offer us.

That's when I saw something that caused me to knit my eyebrows together in confusion. Hank had a magnifying glass and was looking at a blue, scaly woman. She looked a little familiar.

It reminded me of when Raven shifted.

I stepped in further into the room, "Raven?" I called, unsure if that was actually who I was looking at.

The blue woman looked up, looked scared, and promptly shifted back to the Raven I was familiar with. "Dia...What are you...what are you doing here?"

"Prolonging the inevitable," I answered. "Is that what you really look like?"

Raven looked scared again, "Yeah..."

"...Neat...May I see again?"

" _Neat_?" she repeated in disbelief.

I folded my arms against my chest, "What? The world is filled with people who are various shades of color," I pointed out, slightly shrugging.

"Dia..."

"Alright, fine. I admit, blue skin is not something you see everyday. But –you're Raven," I turned to Hank for support. "It's not a big deal right?" I asked, sending him a an a reassuring smile so that he would back me up.

Hank looked uncomfortable, "I'm working on a serum to fix our physical...deformities,"

A flash of disappointment hit me from Hank, but I chose to ignore it—at least for the time being and Raven just looked hurt.

"Oh..." I answered, trailing off awkwardly. After a long moment of silence I started to slow back away from the two of them. "You know what...I'm gonna go workout now," I announced, pointing to the door behind me before I quickly exited stage right and away from the lab.

* * *

 ** _AN: I hope you enjoyed the chapter!_**


	7. Speciality

_**AN: Honestly, I can't thank all of you enough for supporting this story.**_

* * *

We were in the library, it was a huge room with an open interior, lined with walls of books and several nooks to sit and read in. Charles and Erik wanted to explore my empathic abilities further. I picked at the loose strand of my shirt remembering the disgust on my face about the plain attire I'm wearing. I lifted my head, my eyes meeting Erik's and we began to play a game, pointing out the ostentatious items in the room with our eyes. A bronze lion head. Awards from Charles' ancestors. Ridiculous looking portraits. An antique cigar box.

"Do you know the extent of your empathic abilities Claudia?" Charles asked curiously, sitting across from me in a sofa chair, ending our game.

I turned my attention to him, "No Charles, people do not volunteer to see the extent of my powers. Being able to manipulate emotions tends to unnerves people," I quipped, smiling.

"I'm surprised, I thought that's what you do regardless of how people feel," Erik stated, peering out the library window.

"Erik," I gasped mockingly, and put my hand on my chest as if I was offended. "Your lack of faith in me, wounds me," I finished jokingly.

Erik snickered before turning around and walking to where Charles and I were sitting, "What do you know that you can do?" Erik questioned, as he lowered himself into the chair next to Charles'.

"Sense, feel and understand emotions, feelings, hopes, dreams, desires, and fears of others," I listed simply, shrugging my shoulders. "I can create illusions also. So, as you can tell manipulation is my specialty," I answered, spreading my hands out in front of me.

"Do you mind if you show me?" Charles asked curiously.

"You're joking right?" I chuckled in disbelief, arching my brow at him. "When I get inside people's head like that, the illusion can seem so... _vivid_ ," I warned, sitting comfortably in my seat.

"I can take it," Charles assured, adjusting himself in his seat.

"Well, it's your funeral, Charles," I joked, as I closed my eyes and allowed myself to relax and shortly after Charles does the same.

I reopened my eyes and looked at Charles, as soon as his grip tightens on the armrest I knew the illusion was in full effect. I watched my illusion through Charles' mind. Charles had to blink a couple of times before realizing that his sister, Raven, was lying deadly still on the floor. A puddle of wine red blood was forming around her and all he could do was stare. He could even smell the metallic stench of her blood as the life left her body. He tried yelling, moving, even using his mind to call out to her, but it didn't work.

"Charles," I called, trying to rouse him from my illusion. "Are you alright?"

"Charles," Erik called, and firmly put his hand on Charles' shoulder which seemed to break him of the trance.

"Pardon me?" He asked confused as he shook off his daze, realizing he was back in his seat.

"Claudia was asking how do you feel?" Erik repeated what I had just asked.

I was intently staring at Charles to see if he was paralyzed in shock or fear. Or maybe both.

"Oh...well that was quite the...skill. It's both incredible and terrifying that the images were so-" Charles began.

"Real? Vivid? Seems impossible to have been fake," I offered softly.

Charles met my eyes and nodded softly as I began to pick apart Charles' emotions. He had never felt so vulnerable and useless until my illusion and he hoped he never had to feel that again.

"Well now my curiosity piqued," Erik stated, smirking a little. "Your illusions, they're that powerful?" Erik questioned, looking at me intently.

A proud smirk appeared on my face and I leaned forward, "I could have the strongest man on Earth cowering in terror in a matter of seconds once I discover his greatest fear," I confessed, grinning widely. My eyes moved over to Charles, and found that he was already staring at me and looked to be in deep thought. He had a slight frown on his face and had been strangely quiet. "Charles, are you sure your alright?" I asked, concern lining my face.

"I'm fine really, I was just thinking, that's all," Charles explained, flashing a quick smile. "We've seen your capabilities with your empathic powers, how about your telekinesis?" Charles asked, placing his hands on his knees and pushing himself up from the chair.

A smiled beamed from my face once again, "Well, I'm glad you asked," I began, standing up from my own seat and clapping my hands together. "I'm going to need two mannequins for this demonstration," I instructed, before walking out of the library. "And come outside, it's too beautiful of a day to be stuffed up in the mansion," I called over my shoulder, as I left.

I opened the front door to the mansion and it was a lot warmer than it was this morning and I relished in the feeling of sunlight on my skin, small joys and all of that. The land around Charles's family home was even bigger than I thought. No matter which way I looked it seemed endless. I spotted a stone bench and I made my towards it, hearing the gravel crunch under my feet.

I sat down on the warm bench and closed my eyes basking in the warmth of the sun. The sound of footsteps behind me cause me to look over my shoulder to see Erik and Charles both carrying a mannequin. They both set them down from about twenty feet away from me and I stood up from the bench, shaking my arms out as I did to prepare them for what I was going to do.

Erik and Charles took their places beside me, I closed my eyes and concentrated until I felt a familiar sensation in my hands. I opened my eyes, my hands were surrounded by purple energy.

"And now boys," I began, lifting my hand up and one of the mannequin's floated off the ground, enveloped in a purple energy. "For my next trick," I continued, my eyes never leaving my target, with a pulse of telekinetic energy I crushed it my grip and it fell to the ground in a heap. I turned my sights on the second mannequin, this time lifting both my hands as the same purple energy encasing the limbs. I push my hands away from each other, ripping the mannequin apart and the limbs dropping to lawn. "Ta da," I sang, dropping my hands and glancing between Erik and Charles.

"That's incredible! Claudia, your control is amazing!" Charles commented happily.

"That all I can do for now, I'm a bit tired. But as you can see, I'm pretty adept with my telekinesis, and with your help..." I trailed off, looking between Charles and Erik.

"There's no telling how powerful you will become," Erik finishing my statement, with an excited grin.

"Why do you sound more excited than I am, Erik?" I questioned grinning.

Erik let out a short laugh before turning to face me, "Because with your abilities the possibilities are endless," he answered, a smirk on his lips.

~~~x~~~

"What are we doing in here?" I asked surveying my surroundings. The small, personal gym had the typical equipment you expected to find. At the front, were some weight benches with the bar resting above it. Behind the benches at the far end of the room held two punching bags, some sparring gear, and some free weights. "I've already did my fair share of lifting weights today," I complained, looking back at Erik.

After my awkward encounter with Raven and Hank I finally forced myself to work out. It hurt. A lot. To say my upper body strength needed improvement was an understatement.

Erik smirked, "We may have powers, but it's still very useful to know the art of hand to hand combat," Erik explained, as he placed a safety mat on the floor beckoning me over.

I nodded understanding why this was needed, attempting to improve my general hand to hand combat without the use of my powers would always be useful. There would be times when I possibly wouldn't be able rely on my abilities immediately and I would need to stall before being able to use my powers against an enemy.

"First thing you're going to learn is a basic punch," Erik began, grabbing my hand and balling it into a fist. "You not only need to know how to punch, but where to punch," Erik continued, lifting my fist to his forehead. "You aim too high, you'll hit their forehead which is the equivalent of hitting a brick wall," Erik explained, lowering my fist too his jaw. "Hit too low, you'll get their chin, also not recommended," he said, moving my fist to a higher place on his face. "The best place to punch is there nose or eyes that's where they'll be most vulnerable," Erik finished, releasing my fist.

"Where did you learn all this?" I asked curiously, letting my hand fall to my side.

"I was forced to teach myself how to fight, it was the only way I could survive..." He trailed off, with a faraway look before he suddenly lunged for me, tackling me to the ground being careful enough not to actually injure me.

"Hey! What the hell Erik!" I exclaimed, sitting up on my arms. "I wasn't ready!" I complained, before blowing a piece of hair out of my face.

"Rule number one, always be ready," Erik responded neutrally, but I could have sworn that the corner of his lips tugged upwards slightly into the hint of a smirk. "Did I mention places like the neck or the shin are also sensitive to impact. You should try it," he added cockily.

I glared at him, "You're such an asshole," I commented, as I got up and took a boxers stance.

Erik put his forearms up in front of his face and got into a defensive stance. I threw my first punch and I thought it was solid. I had a good arm on myself, apparently Erik felt otherwise.

"Come on Claudia, I've seen a sack of potato's hit harder!" He taunted obnoxiously. "Aren't you the same woman, who threatened to break a man's hand in seven different places," Erik reminded with mischievous eyes.

I quickly struck out at his neck hitting his jugular causing him to choke on his saliva, he lifted his hand to his throat, coughing hard as he rubbed it soothingly. I felt satisfied when he looked momentarily surprised at the force I'd used.

"Is that better?" I questioned mockingly, my lips forming into a smirk.

 _"That'll teach him for insulting and underestimating me," I thought._

Erik rubbed his throat one last time, "Claudia, that was not very ladylike," he finally commented, taking a while longer to reply.

"Lucky I'm a mutant then," I retorted, a smirk still on my face.

Immediately, I swung out my left hand attempting strike harder. I went to punch his abdomen, but he caught my hand and I drew back my foot kicking him in the shin. Erik caught a hold of both of my upper arms. My leg flew out to deliver another kick but he released my right arm just in time to catch my foot.

He tugged at my foot causing me to topple over onto the mat, he followed, dropping onto the mat into a position where he trapped my body with his own. I laid flat on my back on the mat staring up at Erik who had me pinned down with his legs that were on both sides of my thighs and his arms planted on the mat, level with my head. Staring up at him, I felt heat crawling up my neck and spreading to my cheeks as I became extremely self-aware of the position we were in.

And now being this close to Erik it made me realize that his mesmerizing irises actually had a bit of gray in them. Those stormy blue gray eyes stared down at me with such an intensity that a shiver ran up my spine. But yet I couldn't look away; his captivating gaze was somewhat beautiful, in a terrifying way. His eyes held mine much like the eyes of cat held those of a mouse. And like a mouse, I didn't move.

I felt the most peculiar sensation run through me, it felt as if my whole body was aflame. We stayed like that for half a second longer than necessary, stuck in our own world until the sound of Moira and Charles talking from afar brought us back into reality causing Erik to jump up and away from me before quickly pulling himself to his feet.

"Not bad for your first day," Erik began, clearing his throat as a way to clear the awkward tension that fell between us. Erik offered me his hand, I accepted his hand allowing him to help me upright. "But there's definitely numerous areas to improve on," Erik continued, shoving his hands in the pockets of his sweatpants, and momentarily avoided my eye contact. "You are nowhere near intimidating or threatening as you think you are," Erik jested, facing me again with a shit eating grin on his face.

"You're insufferable, Lehnsherr,"

~~~x~~~

I stood in the doorway, half in the library and half in the hall outside watching him. Charles was sitting before the fireplace, an old novel resting in his lap as he read. The sunset sunlight brightened the room from the window behind his chair, and the sound of the other mutants' conversation from the dining room could be heard from somewhere down the hall. It didn't look like he wasn't really paying attention to the words on the page in front of him, but rather skimmed the familiar text absentmindedly while his thoughts wandered elsewhere.

I rapped quietly on the door frame and Charles glanced up, closing the book at the same time. He gave me a small smile and I made my way into the room and sat next to him on the sofa, offering a smile in return.

"I must thank you for your help today Claudia," Charles stated, placing his book down next to him. "Not a good first day, the results we had got today have been less than spectacular, but your help was greatly appreciated,"

"Is that so?" I questioned, lifting my feet from the floor and onto Charles' lap. "I really didn't do much," I reminded, with my arm resting on the back of the sofa.

Charles looked down at my feet and then back up to look at me, a smile on his face from my action and I merely shrugged returning his grin. What can I say, those shoes made my feet hurt. Charles slowly removed my flats one at a time and placed them on the wooden floor with a light thud, his hands slowly massaging my feet and I flexed my toes out.

"Nonsense. You being there for moral support was a big help today. Especially with Alex," Charles explained, moving his thumbs up and the soles of my foot, which felt heavenly and I let my eyes flutter close. "And me," Charles added quietly.

My eyes widened slightly, "Really?" I began, tilting my head. "I would've never guess that from you Charles. You always seem so cool, calm, collected. Not to mention perfect," I stated smiling, just as Charles pressed circles above my heel and I tried not to let out the moan that was threatening to come out.

"Well, no one's perfect Claudia," Charles commented, massaging my left foot now. "My confidence was a bit shaken after Alex's training, but after hearing and listening to your reassuring words...you took away the fear that I have about failing these kids," Charles explained looking up at me, his face illuminated by his million dollar smile.

His hands moved upwards slowly running both thumbs over the center of the sole of my foot.

"Speaking of fear..." I trailed off and Charles brought his eyes back to mine. "I make you uncomfortable," It is not a question, it is a statement. It's ironic that I should make a telepath uncomfortable, since our powers are uncannily similar.

Charles' hands faltered over my foot, "That's absurd, Claudia," He lied, but I can feel it in him, the roiling discomfort, the wish to get away from someone who can take and see and judge his worst memories with just a glance in his eyes. "I merely wish to help you hone your empathy,"

"Did I forget to mention I can tell when a person is lying," I mused, causing Charles' hands to falter again. "It wasn't my place, but I wanted to know how you were doing after my illusion," I disclosed, and his hands stopped moving. "I left you feeling vulnerable, and I feel awful about it. I feel awful that I make you uncomfortable and I'm sorry," I apologized, gazing at Charles momentarily before looking away and pushing a strand of hair behind my ear.

Charles pulled my legs, dragging me closer to him and I let out a yelp at the sudden movement. Turning my head to him I realized our closeness to each other, we were intimately close.

"I will admit that your illusion earlier today unnerved me, but I'm not uncomfortable around you, just the opposite actually," Charles clarified, as he cupped my face. "I am the most comfortable when I am in your presence, Claudia," he confessed, before leaning down and pressing his warm lips to my forehead.

* * *

 _ **AN: I'm so glad to be finished with this chapter, I kept revising it because I wasn't satisfied with it.**_


	8. Fun & Games

_**AN: Sorry for the wait, schoolwork was piled on top of me before we released for Spring Break.  
**_

* * *

" _You are nothing but a freak!"_

" _You would be nothing without me!"_

" _No one wants you!"_

I sat up abruptly in my bed, a gasp loudly escaping my mouth as my eyes shot open, sweat caking my hair to my forehead and my clothes to my body. I threw the covers off of me, stumbling out of the bed as I went into a little state of panic before I registered where I was. I was in my cozy bedroom in Charles' mansion, illuminated by the outside sun that shone through the large window.

 _"He can't hurt you anymore_ , _remember,"_ I whispered to myself.

I slid to the floor, wiping the stray tears off my cheeks and took a couple of deep breaths, my shoulders no longer shaking as violently. I drew my legs up to my chest, arms hugging my knees and face resting on top of my arms. A hiccup escaped me from the hysteria that had seized my body momentarily as I felt the world right itself. I was okay. I was safe.

Ever so slowly, I came back.

I unwrapped my arms from my legs and slowly pushed myself up from the wooden floor and went to my bathroom. Along with the cold sweat, the remnants of my nightmare seemed to cling to my skin like particles of dirt. The sensation of warm water on my skin would hopefully wash away the memories.

Before entering the shower I stared at my reflection, my hand slightly trembling as my fingers grazed over the discoloration around my eye I had received two nights prior. Shaking off my stupor, I quickly went into the shower, shedding my night clothes as if they were on fire. The water stung where it hit the small cuts on my back, but I ignored the pain, blissfully soaking up the warmth it offered the rest of my aching muscles. I scrubbed myself down with soaps and oils, I washed myself at least five times, trying to rid myself of the unpleasant sensation plaguing me.

Five minutes later, I wiped the steam off that fogged the mirror and I found myself looking at a completely different person. Her eyes were bright and she looked comfortable and clean and...Happy. Very happy. She was smiling. I liked when she smiled.

It was my best defense to mask that I was not slowly, painfully slowly, beginning to lose my mind.

~~~x~~~

"I think today is going to well," Charles beamed, after breakfast, everyone had left the kitchen and the two of us cleared the table while everyone changed into their training gear. Ever the gentleman, after collecting all the dishes, he ushered me into the kitchen. "Ladies first," he gestured with his free hand.

"Is that so?" I asked, grabbing the pitcher of syrup and tray of butter. "Thank you kind sir," I returned with a slight curtsy, and a flirtatious smile thrown over my shoulder, as I proceeded towards the fridge. "What's the lesson plan today, Professor?" I joked, sticking the syrup and butter back in the refrigerator.

"Ha ha ha, very funny," Charles drawled, placing the dishes down on the counter and turned the knob to the sink and water streamed out, he placed his hand underneath the water waiting for it to warm up. He squirted soap into the dish filled sink.

I reached out to the dishes on the counter, and with a telekinetic tug floated the dishes over to the sink. The moving dishes startled Charles a bit and I laughed as I walked over to him, rolling my sleeves up.

I scrubbed the first dish, "I'll wash, and you dry," I instructed, handed him the first cleaned dish and a towel. We made skin-to-skin contact, the touch was electric and both of us flinched involuntarily. Charles almost dropped the dish. He looked over at me, just as I turned my head to look at him as well. A smile pulled at his lips and I laughed softly, shaking my head before turning my attention back to the task at hand.

I continued to soap the dishes and Charles dried them in silence. Tension hung in the still air. The only sound came from the running tap. After the eighth dish, Charles finally broke the silence.

"You know, I could set up a course for your telekinesis. It looked like you were struggling there to lift the dishes," Charles gibed with a smile, as he dried off the last dish.

I blinked at him, "Charles, if you weren't such a great masseuse, I would break each and every one of your fingers to show how wrong you are," I leaned back on the counter with a grin. "You are so lucky you have magic hands," I commented, shaking my head.

"Is that all I am to you?" Charles countered with a smile, "Just a pair of magic, telepathic hands that make you putty over my treatment of your feet?"

"Yeah," I answered bluntly. "Face it, pretty boy, this is all you're good for," I shrugged, his blue eyes amused as I raised an eyebrow at the telepath.

"Oh Claudia, love, how you wound me," Charles grinned, placing his hands over his chest where his heart is.

"Would you like a kiss to make it better?" I asked, a smile making its way on my lips.

Charles had a smirk on his lips as well as he moved closer to me, "Is that an offer?" He questioned, raising an eyebrow suggestively.

I bit my lip and smiled as I sauntered up to him, "It could be a promise," I whispered into his ear. "The world may never know," I added, backing away from him with a grin on my face.

~~~x~~~

Closing my eyes, I leaned against the railing, breathing in the cool air. A gentle wind started up and I welcomed it, leaning my face into the soft breeze. It wasn't until I felt another warm body near mine that I turned my head with a raised an eyebrow at the mutant next to me.

"Something I can help you with?" I questioned, focusing my gaze to Erik.

"Is that your favorite line to say?" Erik asked back, and I just smiled, quirking an eyebrow that expressed the answer of 'maybe'. "I want to try something, help me warm up my powers you could say," Erik began.

"Shouldn't you be discussing this with Charles?" I quizzed, my smile falling slightly as my eyebrows came together, confusion in my eyes.

"Charles, wouldn't exactly agree with what I have in mind. But I think you would," Erik answered vaguely.

"Erik, why do I feel I'll be the guinea pig of this experiment?" I replied wearily a small smile on my face.

"For what I want to try I will need you to trust me," Erik stated seriously staring deeply into my eyes.

" _Trust,"_ I repeated, lazily stretching out my arms in front of me. "That's the foundation of a friendship," I stated, looking straight into his blue orbs. "Are we friends Erik?" I questioned, all joking aside my gaze sincere and intense.

A soft grin appeared on Erik's face and his hand appeared before my abdomen, "Claudia Walker, I would be honored to call you my friend, if you'll have me," Erik affirmed, I mimicked Erik's motion and firmly shook his hand. "Even if you can be a royal pain," he finished smiling at me, as he let go of my hand and I lightly punched his arm. "Come on, follow me," Erik motioned leading us down the balcony steps and towards the back lawns.

"Alright Erik, color me intrigued. What is so special about this training that you needed to give me a disclaimer?" I questioned, crossing my arms against my chest as we came to a stop. Erik reached into his pocket and slowly pulled out a sleek gun and my eyes widened to the size of saucers. "Are you insane?" I exclaimed, my eyes bouncing from the gun to Erik.

"You have nothing to fear, I promise," Erik assured, as the unmistakable click of the safety being turned off was deafening to my ears.

"Easy for you to say, you're not facing the barrel," I quipped, moving my hands to my hips.

He aimed the gun towards me his eyes boring into mine, "Do you trust me?"

I lifted one hand from my hip and pinched the brim of my nose, "This feels like one of those moments where I know I should go with my gut feeling and say 'no', but I have this strange feeling in my heart..." I trailed off, taking a deep breath closing my eyes before opening them again to face Erik. Staring determinedly at him, I repeated his words. "I trust you Erik," Erik's lips quirked up into a smile momentarily, and he nodded his head.

The tension in the air was monumental, his finger slid to the trigger. I knew he could stop it, hell, I could stop it, yet my heart still raced and my hands trembled. BANG! The bullet soared through the air stopping right in front of my heart. I let out a breath I didn't realize I was holding. We both looked towards each other laughter flowing freely from our lips.

"I have to say Erik you sure know how to treat a girl shooting at her with a gun after proclaiming we're friends! I can't imagine what your wedding day would be like with your wife!" I teased smirking.

"Very funny! Don't you forget I could have easily let that bullet hit you!" Erik reminded smiling.

"No, I don't think you'd do that, you see I think I'm growing on you," I challenged, mirroring his smile. "Which is why I want you to shoot me again," I requested, a plan formulating in my mind.

"What?"

"And don't stop the bullet,"

Erik looked at me doubtfully, "You're not serious?" Erik asked, I could hear the doubt in his voice that matched his expression.

I returned his gaze, a smile lifted the corners of my mouth, "What's wrong? Scared?" I asked smiling, because now the tables were slightly turned. "It's not like you didn't just shoot at me only a minute ago," I reminded smirking, placing my hands on my hips.

Erik regained his stance, "Okay, but you asked for it. Ready?"

I nodded and braced myself. This worked almost every time, hopefully it would not fail now, or I would be dead. That would be unfortunate. The gunshot cracked through the the silence and flew towards me and I heard Erik hold his breath in anticipation. Just before the bullet hit me, I stuck my hand, a violet barrier formed in front of me, and the bullet bounced off of it and onto to the ground

Erik smiled, "Well, I know now not to get any ideas," Erik stated cheekily.

I dropped my hand and placed it on my hip, "Honestly Erik, I would be offended if you didn't attempt to try at least another time," I quipped, as the barrier vanished into thin air.

Just then I heard quick, light footsteps pounding on the gravel approaching us, Charles emerged from around the corner of the mansion.

"What are you two doing?" Charles asked, gasping for breath.

I quickly glanced at Erik before returning my stare to Charles, "Trusting each other," I answered simply, shrugging.

~~~x~~~

Five minutes later, the three of us had entered the mansion. Erik and Charles went to the library to play a match of chess and plan out new training's for the younger mutants and I found myself in the kitchen facing the back of Moira, she was doing dishes, obviously just having finished eating lunch herself. I hadn't eaten since my time spent with Erik, and I could feel my stomach rumbling painfully.

"Afternoon Moira," I greeted, stepping forward to a cupboard and grabbed a cup.

Moira greeted me in return with a smile, "You gave Charles and I quite the scare when we heard gunshots," Moira stated still smiling, as she dried her hands on the towel next to the sink.

"Oh, come now, I can't take all the credit. Erik was the one that actually fired the gun," I quipped returning her smile, as I poured myself a glass of water from the sink.

I set the glass down on the island and moved over to the fridge, opening the door I stared at the array of food available, still partly overwhelmed by the sheer amount of choices I had. Grinning, I grabbed a jar of mayo and slices of ham proceeded to make a sandwich. As I prepared my meal Moira turned her back to me, focusing on her dishes. Which gave me time to observe her and the burning question that had been in my mind since we arrived at the mansion.

 _"Why is Moira still here?" I thought. "After everything she has seen I expected her to turn on us the way most humans do when they're scared,"_ _  
_

I decided to voice the thoughts that had been floating through my mind, "Moira...why are you still here?" I asked curiously, screwing the lid back onto the mayo and Moira's body stilled at my question. "I mean after what you saw with Shaw and the Hellfire Club, not to mention the destruction of the CIA facility, why did you decide to trust us and still want to work with us?" I clarified, as Moira turned to face me.

Moira looked at me like the answer was obvious. "I was being realistic, I mean there's good and bad in all of us. Mutant, not mutant, Black, White, man, woman–it doesn't matter," Moira answered.

"If you were realistic you would have picked up and left. No one in their right mind would stay and help us," I said bluntly, though my intention was not to be rude. "Hell, if I were a normal human, I'd probably wouldn't if we're being honest," I confessed, before going back inside the fridge, placing the mayo down.

Moira leaned back against the sink, The reason I trust you, the reason I trust _all_ of you is because you're you," Moira answered sincerely, and I didn't detect any dishonesty in her statement.

"You know what? I respect that," I stated, nodding my head. "Thank you for your honesty Moira," I smiled.

Moira returned a smile of her own, "No problem. I just hope the feeling is mutual," Moira had said it jokingly, but it sounded more like a question.

"Of course I respect you Moira," I addressed her, flashing a smile. "Just as long as you don't get the romantic idea of you being able to help us will somehow make you the savior of mutants," I explained, and arched a challenging eyebrow.

Moira shook her head side to side vehemently, "Oh no, never!" she concurred.

"Good," I answered, and flashed Moira another smile.

~~~x~~~

I was bored. So very bored. I could envision what the other occupants of the mansion are doing right now. Alex was probably storming around the mansion aimlessly, taking his anger out on whatever objects happened to be within kicking distance. Raven was staring at herself in a mirror, Hank locking himself up in the lab, Sean running off to probably get stoned. I could see Charles curled up in a chair reading a novel with a cup of tea and Erik was probably in his room plotting multiple ways to kill Shaw. And who knows what Moira does, maybe she reads files in her spare time?

I watched from the window as the rain fell, clouds had rolled in and the sky darkened making the once bright, sunny day, dreary. Then came the rain, the sky had opened up about an hour of ago and showed no signs of stopping. The rain fell steadily, drops running down the windowpane I was in front of. Music from the radio played softly in the background and it reverberated throughout the living room.

"So why exactly are we here?" Sean asked from behind me.

I twirled around lowering my knuckle from my mouth and faced the four mutants behind me, "I wanted to have some fun since the rain has canceled training for today," I explained, shrugging my shoulders. "Speaking of training, I've been wanting to practice an ability of mine," I added, walking closer to them.

"And what would that be?" the red head boy questioned curiously.

"My ability to create illusions," I answered smiling. "I can change how something looks, I can make people see what I want them to, make them believe or feel something that not there or that's not true. I can make things appear out of thin air, although somethings are harder than others," I finished, interlocking my arms behind my back.

"Awesome! Show us," Sean cried in delight, I smirked, this was gonna be fun.

"Who wants to be my guinea pig?" I asked grinning wickedly, and tented my fingertips together, tapping them lightly. I was met with silence. It wasn't surprising from my smile and sinister finger tapping that no one would want to volunteer. "Fine I'll pick," _Hmm. Who shall I pick on?_ I looked at them until my eyes landed on my favorite red head and smirked. "Sean, get up," I ordered, pointing at him.

"Aw! What! Why me?" He groaned getting up as everyone else laughed.

"Because you were the one who was so eager to see my power," I responded to him. "Don't worry. You won't be the only one who's going to be my victim," I carried on still with a grin on my face.

"Victim?" He balked as everyone else shouted out a, "What!" or "Come on!"

I focused on Sean and trapped him in my stare and watched the blank look manifest in his eyes. I closed my eyes and thought about I wanted him to do for the next minute or so and implanted it into his mind. My eyes snapped open and he burst into motion. Sean quickly crouched down, placing his hands on the floor and began panting as if he were a dog. Everyone burst out laughing and I joined. He started spinning around as if he were chasing his imaginary tail. He then turned his attention to Raven. She let out a firm "No" before Sean pounced on her, grabbed her hand and started repeatedly licking it.

"EWWWWW! GET HIM OFF! GET HIM OFF!" Raven started screaming in a mix of disgust and humor as the rest of us carried on laughing.

Sean then whipped around to Alex, quickly crawling over before he started to hump his leg.

"OH MY-! CLAUDIA GET HIM OFF!" Alex yelled at me whilst he attempted to keep Sean at bay. By now Raven, Hank, and I were hysterically laughing, Raven even had tears streaming down her face.

Finally Sean backed away and sat back on his chair, the blank look coming over him before he was released from my illusion and he looked around at all of us.

"That was awesome!" He laughed. "Apart from the humping, obviously. Sorry man," He said looking at Alex who looked traumatized, whilst everyone still laughed. "It was weird like I knew what I was doing but I couldn't stop it. And there was a purple tint over my vision. Does that happen every time you do that?" He asked.

"Yep," I told him as I sat back down. "Anyone up for another game?" I asked smirking, looking around.

"NO!" the four of them yelled in unison.

"Oh come on," I began. "I was thinking about a harmless game of hide and go seek," I stated, and everyone breathed a sigh of relief. "What do you say?" I asked.

"I'm in!" Raven cheered.

"Me too!" Sean agreed.

"Why not," Hank murmured.

"No powers!" Alex demanded, and I raised my hands in surrender.

"No powers," I repeated, nodding my head in agreement. "Not it!" I called quickly, standing up from my seat. Everyone followed my lead except for Alex because he called 'not it' too slowly. "All right Alex, you know the rules. Cover your eyes and count to fifteen since this place is so huge," I said, slowly backing away from him.

Alex grumbled under his breath and covered his face with his hands

 _"One,"_ Alex began, and everyone in the living scattered in different directions.

 _"Two,"_ As quietly as possible I bounded up the grand staircase and swiveled my head from left to right, looking down at each side.

 _"Three,"_ I moved down the hallway and decided to hide in the last place that Alex would like. Feeling quite proud of myself I reached the door to my hiding spot. I opened the door without even bothering to knock, and spun around closing the door both quietly and quickly at the same time.

I leaned my head against the door momentarily and smiled, lifting my head from the door I turned and quickly glanced around the room. It was a lot like mine, the only difference being the strong masculine cologne that floated in the air. I spotted a cozy chair arranged near the fireplace and made my over to it sit down in the chair, only to be startled out of doing so by a familiar voice.

"Please don't," Whipping around and looking down at the chair, I found one Charles Xavier sitting with his left leg over the right, where he had not been just seconds ago and grinning like a loon. "Sorry for the deception, love, but I was curious to see who was quickly approaching my door,"

I crossed my arms against my chest, "But why hide yourself?"

"You're playing hide and seek with the children, are you not?" Charles asked grinning.

"I was thinking of it as more of a training exercise," I replied, my lips forming into a smirk, "They don't know it, but I'm teaching them to think outside of the box," I explained. "Although, I think making yourself invisible is cheating Charles. No powers remember?" I pointed out.

Charles' lips upturned into a smile, "Out of all of the rooms in this house, why did you choose my room, Claudia?"

"Because I knew no one would be bold enough to try," I retorted.

"No one except you," Charles smirked.

"No one except me," I repeated grinning.

"I shouldn't have expected less," Charles chuckled, his eyes sparkled with mirth. I opened my mouth to respond, but he just put his finger to his lips. "You'll thank me in a moment," he whispered, and almost simultaneously his bedroom door was opened by two familiar blonde headed mutants.

Alex and Raven both looked directly at me, but yet made no comment, it was like...I was invisible. I felt a small smile begin to work at my mouth and I looked back at Charles who mirrored my expression as he had two fingers on his temple.

"I thought you said you heard talking," Alex stated, slight frustration in his tone. "Because there is no one in here," Alex added, stepping in the room and checking the most obvious spots to hide like the closet, bathroom, and underneath the bed.

"I swear I did!" Raven exclaimed. "Maybe it was just the music I heard," she suggested, as Alex walked back to door.

"Maybe," he agreed, closing the door behind him.

Charles and I waited for about thirty seconds before erupting in soft laughter, "This house is enormous, this is hardly a fair fight," Charles pointed out, and I merely shrugged. "There's never been a dull moment in this house since you got here Claudia," Charles smiled, brandishing a book that had previously escaped my notice. "Can I assume you're the one responsible for the mayhem downstairs about five minutes ago?" Charles inquired.

"I wanted to further explore my abilities," I answered smiling. "Do you mind a companion?" I asked.

"Not at all, provided you don't try to sit on me again," Charles quipped, before looking back down at his book.

I glanced around the room seeing there wasn't another chair for me to sit, " _I_ _might have to,"_ I thought.

And so, it was with a small smirk that I sidled up the handsome man before me, and slid down into his lap just as Lena Horne cooed Stormy Weather from the record player in the corner of the room.

Charles nearly jumped out of the chair, "Claudia! Wha-What are you-"

I looked up at him, "There were no other chairs, so I'd figure we could share," I explained, before raising my brows at him and watching a red flush crawl up his neck.

He swallowed thickly but managed a cool smirk of his own, "Is that so?" Charles asked, cocking his head to the side. His book slowly slipping out of his grasp and onto the floor with a soft thud.

My fingers moved to his shirt, straightening it out and brushing the strands of hair from his face, "Very much so," I smirked, flipping my hair over my shoulder. I leaned closer to Charles, my lips close to his ear, " _Stormy weather. Just can't get my poor self together. I'm weary all the time, the time. Yes, weary all the time,"_ I sung, slowly raising my knee until it brushed his crotch, my teasing, mischievous nature coming into play.

This harmless flirting had to peak eventually right?

His Adam's apple bobbed up and down, "T-This is inappropriate," Charles' breathing hitched.

"How so?" I breathed out. "You're surely weren't thinking that this morning," I reminded.

"Well, I'm not going to deny that you are the most amazingly beautiful woman I have ever met-" Charles began.

"Oh how you flatter me Charles," I smiled.

"I've also been thinking about how I'm much older than you," Charles continued, and I rolled my eyes before pulling my head back to face Charles.

"I've been with _old_ men before Charles," I drawled.

"Are you calling me old, Claudia?" Charles questioned his lips quirking into a small smile.

"I never did such a thing, you called yourself old, Charles," I retorted, tilting my head slightly.

He chuckled and looked at me, his intense blue gaze that was fixed upon my own. I glance down at his lips and back to this eyes and he did the same as I leaned forward, our lips barely touching.

Charles lifted one of his hands and caressed my cheek softly, "While I want nothing more to claim your lips with my own," Charles sighed, pulling away from me. "Let's not rush into things, love," Charles suggested gently, a small smile gracing his features.

I recognized the look in his eye as he smiled at me. Charles Xavier may have been abnormal in almost every other aspect of his life, but when it came to attraction and women, he was exceedingly normal. And for the first time in years the thought of a man being attracted to me suited me just fine, especially one who said there was no need to rush.

I exhaled deeply and nodded my head, "If that's what you want," I conceded, pulling my head back as well. "Well, guess I was right," I mused, and Charles furrowed his brow. "The world may never really know when you're going to get that kiss," I smirked.

Charles grinned and I contented myself with Charles wrapping an arm around my waist as he read to me, all the while watching in amusement every time one of the children came in and searched the room over, each more frustrated than the last.

* * *

 _ **AN: Hoped you liked it!**_


	9. Challenges

_**AN: Very long chapter ahead, hope you like it! Sorry for the long wait, college has been kicking my ass lately.  
**_

* * *

With some trepidation, Charles readjusted his grip on the gun and extended his arm. He let out a slow breath and looked to Erik. He had taken a step back and stood with an anxious expression on his face.

"You're sure?" Charles asked, the others were off training, but I stayed to watch the two men as I sat on the stone bench reading a novel. I watched with a sigh as Charles pointed a gun at Erik.

"I'm sure," Erik nodded eagerly, smiling almost manically.

Oh, boy. I knew Erik and I were foolhardy enough when he fired his gun to test his abilities and then me following in his footsteps to test my own powers, but I didn't think he was stupid enough to have a gun fired at him point blank. I liked Erik, but why did he always want to do things that could potentially kill someone or himself.

"All right," Charles sighed, and slowly moved to place his finger against the trigger. Even as his finger was gently placed against it, his frown if anything grew, lowering his arm he shook his head. "No. No, I can't. I'm sorry," He gave in lowering the gun. "I can't shoot anybody point blank, let alone my friend,"

"Thank you, Charles for seeing sense," I remarked dryly, looking up from my reading.

"Oh come on!" Erik said while reaching out and grasping onto his arm and lifting the gun back up. "You know I can deflect it!" Erik said while pushing the gun against his forehead again. "You're always telling me I should push myself," He reasoned simply.

"If you know you can deflect it, then you're not challenging yourself," Charles lectured, while lowering his arm again and giving Erik the gun back. "Whatever happened to the man who's...who's trying to raise a submarine?" Charles reminded.

"Oh, boy. Don't give him anymore ideas, Charles," I commented dryly again, snapping my book shut as I rose from my seat, straightening my skirt as my fingers glided over the buttons that were in the middle.

"Well, it's gotten the job done all this time," Erik replied simply.

"It's nearly gotten you killed all this time," Charles corrected while looking around and I turned my attention to the radio satellite in the distance.

 _"There's a challenge,"_ I thought, catching Charles' stare and he nodded in agreement.

"I have to leave," Charles began, checking his watch before looking up at us. "I need to start setting up for Alex's training. I'll see you two later," Charles stated, and Erik and I watched as he took the path back into the mansion.

"You're a bit dressed up for training today," Erik commented, his eyes traveling from my simple cream colored blouse down to my maroon colored plaid skirt and finally onto my black pumps.

"I know! Do you like it?" I asked grinning, and holding both sides of the skirt and twirling before it found itself settling down to rest just below the mid thigh once again.

The sun had peaked in the sky, warming the Fall day to the perfect level of warmth against our skin and making my dark brown skin glow. Erik scanned quickly over what I was wearing, his eyes seemingly zeroing on my stockingless legs.

"Well Erik? I don't have all day," The sudden remark snapped him out of his daze. My voice contained a little snippiness as it did sometimes, but there was an equal amount of playfulness to it as well.

"I've seen better," Erik stated, and I narrowed my eyes upon him. Our stare down dragged out for five seconds, before Erik's lip started to quirk, struggling to contain his smile.

"I hate you Erik, so much," I uttered, stabbing my index finger into his chest. "And for the record, you're pretty average yourself, so I wouldn't get too cocky," I added flatly, a smile of my own forming.

"Has this always been your nature?" Erik asked smirking.

"I don't know what you mean," I replied, arching my brow and mirroring Erik's smirk.

I made my way back to the balcony the gravel crunching underneath my heels before I hopped up onto the railing and faced Erik again. Erik moved forward moving from the stair we were standing on. He placed his gun down next to me and I immediately picked the weapon, aiming the weapon over his shoulder.

"Put that down before you hurt somebody or yourself," Erik jested, proud of himself.

I lowered the gun, "Who needs guns, when I can snap your neck with a flick of my wrist," I concurred, placing the gun back down on the balcony. "Or I could just order them to do the deed themselves," I added, with a shrug.

"Strange as it may be, but I want to experience your ability as well," Erik stated, placing his hands down on the smooth, stone railing. "I'm curious if power is truly terrifying as Charles makes it out to be," Erik gibed, a smirk on his face.

"You're going to choke on your words Erik," I sang, straightening my posture and stared into Erik's eyes.

Erik stared back into mine unflinchingly just as I planted the mental aftertaste of vanilla, Erik began to sniff. He knew the smell wasn't really there, that I was simply tweaking some nerve in his brain that told him he smelt it, but he sniffed anyway.

"I am _shaking_ in my boots, Claudia," Erik commented dryly.

But now, that perfume didn't smell so sweet, he felt terror flood his mind almost like an offensive odor. I conveyed to him the feeling of cold seeping into his bones and water filling his lungs to the extent Erik physically choked.

Drowning.

I released him from my hold and stared at him as his coughing fit wracked his body, I smirked and jumped down from the down balcony. I patted Erik on his back as if I was burping a small baby and Erik just turned and looked at me still coughing, but not as violently.

"Told you I was going to make you choke," I quipped, and made my back into the mansion.

~~~x~~~

I wandered the mansion for a while my heels clacking against the cherry wood, very surprised to find that no one was in sight. I remembered that Charles was training with Alex and took the path to the bunker to see if today would yield better results for Alex. There was quite a bit of banging from what seemed to be in the bunker and low murmur of voices as I approached closer.

Just as I entered I watched Hank and Charles wrestle a vest of some sort on Alex. I joined the three of them my heels clicking on the metal floor alerting them to my presence, I lifted an eyebrow at what Alex was wearing now being able to fully see what it was. Alex had this new device strapped against him. It was a metal circular disk and my educated guess was it's supposed to center Alex's power into one place and shoot out as a beam.

Alex stared down at the thing with slight despair, "Sexy," Alex commented dryly.

I moved next to him and winked, "Innit? It compliments your eyes," I quipped smiling.

Hank smiled sheepishly, "Well this is just the prototype. The real one will look considerably better. It'll be a whole suit. See these sensors measure your energy I'll put this panel focus in and the excess is absorbed," Hank answered in a long winded explanation.

"You're sure this will work Hank?" Charles asked, a smile on his lips from Hank's excited explanation.

"Anything's possible," Hank answered breathlessly.

"Good enough for me," Charles agreed, and then pointed at the new three dummies, specifically at the one in the center that had a large X tapped from its shoulder blades to its hips. "Alright try hitting the one in the middle, just the one in the middle, mind. Good luck," Charles concluded, leading Hank and I out the room.

Charles quickly closed the door behind us it wasn't long before I heard a loud explosion from within the bunker. Placing my hand on the handle of the door to open it I felt Charles' hand on mine halting my movement, that's when another thunderous explosion echoed throughout the bunker along with the sound of soft thud, like a body falling. The red light flickered on and I pulled open one of the doors as Hank opened the other one.

"For goodness sake..." Charles trailed off, once again looking at the fiery destruction that Alex caused. "Hank, Hank take care of that for me will ya," Charles asked, pointed to the now burning mannequins. I knelt down on the left of Alex as Charles knelt down on his right. "You alright?" Charles asked concern present in his voice.

"Yep," Alex replied, out of breath.

"Are you sure?" I questioned, staring at burning mannequins that were placed on the left and right before looking back at Alex.

"Yes," Alex answered again, regaining his breath.

"Can you stand?" Charles inquired, grasping Alex's arm and I did the same just as Alex nodded yes and the two of us pulled Alex from the floor. All of us looked at the blaze in front of us again as Hank tried to extinguish it. "Well, it's progress anyway," Charles acknowledged, looking at Alex. "At least it's coming from only one direction now. You will learn to control this eventually Alex but-" Charles started.

"But for now I get to wear energy diapers," Alex interjected irritatedly and stormed off. "Thanks Bozo!" Alex gibed, leaving the bunker.

 _"Oh Alex, you're so dramatic,"_ I thought.

~~~x~~~

I hummed to myself as I moved down the hall looking for something to do, turning the corner I slowed my pace and stopped at a window and looked outside. Charles and Hank had changed into sweats. They were going on a run themselves. Hank saw me and I gave Hank a thumbs for good luck, he smiled weakly in return. I stepped back from the window and continued my search for human life in the mansion, turning down the hall I heard metal clanking. Someone's in the gym. I moved closer, but stopped when I was a few feet from the entrance because of a certain voice I heard.

"If you're using half your concentration to look normal, then you're only half paying attention to whatever else you're doing. Just pointing out something that could save your life," There was the sound of something heavy and metal moving. "You want society to accept you, but you can't even accept yourself,"

He was talking to Raven. I was irritated, suddenly and inexplicably irritated. But why? All Erik was doing was trying to encourage Raven to be herself. Erik came out of the weight room and walked away from the room but stopped when he saw me. I swiftly masked my expression with a smile, barely having time to process my true feelings.

I walked forward as did Erik, "Now that's a surprise," I began, meeting Erik's gaze. "It's not everyday Erik Lehnsherr boosts your self-esteem," I smiled, my voice low so Raven couldn't hear us.

"You overheard me talking to Raven?" Erik asked, matching my tone.

"Yes," I nodded.

"What do you make of it?" Erik questioned, folding his arms together.

"I think you made a great point. It doesn't matter if she's blue," I agreed. "To me at least,"

"It doesn't?"

"No. But it's up to her to decide," I stated giving him a pointed look, before walking past him.

"I see..." Erik murmured. "Claudia!" Erik called, and I spun around to face him. "I lied earlier," Erik remembered.

I let out a chuckle, "Oh, and what would that be about?" I questioned, arching a brow.

"You look fantastic, truly stunning," Erik complimented.

I rolled my eyes, trying to suppress a smile, that slowly seeped through. I looked to the ground, hoping that he wasn't watching my reaction to his compliment. Looking up through my eyelashes, I met his eyes. The two of us watching each other before my smile widened and I slowly walked backwards until I faced the right direction.

"Hard at work I see," I observed smirking from the entrance, before entering the room. Raven was in her blue form, something that will still take time for me to get use to.

"Well aren't you all dressed up," Raven commented, putting a pair of dumbbells back. "I take it you're not training today," Raven stated, gesturing with her hand in regards to my outfit.

"Nope," I answered, popping the 'p'. "Charles gave me the day off, said we'll pick back up tomorrow," I explained, moving about the room and letting my hand running along the gym equipment.

Raven lips quirked up into a smile as blue rippled down her, transforming her back into her fair skinned form, "Must be nice to have him wrapped around your finger. All you have to do is bat your eyelashes and Charles will do anything for you," I found Raven looking me almost expectantly, a grin on her face like she knew something I didn't.

"He is not wrapped around my finger," I argued, shaking my head smiling and Raven's grin grew wider. I definitely didn't 't know what she was thinking now _._ "What?" I asked, throwing my hands up.

"Nothing. It's just cute," Raven answered simply, with a shrug.

I gave an incredulous look, my hands on my hips. "What's cute?"

Raven laughed, almost a giggle. "You two. You know, a telepath and an empath. In lo—"

"Raven!" I crossed my arms over my chest.

"Come on. You're interested in him, admit it!"

I narrowed my eyes, "I'm not _interested_ in him," I protested, knowing it was a flat out lie.

What Raven's prying eyes didn't know wouldn't hurt her.

"In whom?" Charles's voice startled the both of us from the open doorway of the room, and we both glanced at each other with wide eyes as he leaned against the door frame, evidently done with his running with Hank. He stood there, calm and collected as he looked between the two of us, awaiting our answers with that hint of a smile on his lips.

As if he didn't already know.

~~~x~~~

There were a few things I was concerned about on the way to the mall. Of course, I'm always for the opportunity to buy new clothes, but I didn't have much money on me to pay for my purchases. Not only that, the thought of where in the hell would a black woman like myself be able to shop in Upstate New York crossed my mind. I could envision those three familiar words that have plagued me my whole life.

 _'No Coloreds Allowed'_

When I brought this up Charles tried to assuage my concern.

"Don't worry, I know a place where you won't be bothered," Charles assured, flashing me a quick smile.

"Do you always have a hard time shopping?" Erik asked, turning around from the passenger seat to face me.

"In the city no, especially where I lived," I answered, shaking my head. "People are a bit more open and welcoming to someone like me," I explained, looking out the window. "But here in Upstate New York State, this is probably a utopia for rich white folks," I continued, bringing my attention back to the two men in the car. "No offense Charles," I added, a small smile on my lips.

"None taken,"

"The only time people up here probably see someone of my complexion is if they are 'the help'" I finished.

We arrived at the mall and Charles pulled up in the vast parking lot, driving around for a bit before he pulled into a parking space just as Moira passed us and parked in the space next to us. I looked out the window and at the mall, it was a large complex crafted in sandstone that was only one story. The three of us simultaneously got out of the car just as the back door to Moira's car opened revealing a grumpy Alex.

"Thank God we're finally here," Alex grumbled.

I raised an eyebrow curious to know what he could be possible be grumpy about now, but then again it's Alex, he's always moody. It wasn't until I heard the sounds of Sean and Raven chatting excitedly, that I figured out why he was so annoyed.

"You alright Alex?" I asked.

"I'm fine now," Alex nodded. "I had to get out of there, Claudia. I couldn't take much more of those two. Why couldn't I ride with you three?" Alex asked.

"Adults only car," I answered simply, shrugging my shoulders. "Sorry kid, I don't make the rules," I added smiling, and Alex grumbled some more.

Raven approached me grinning, "I am so excited!" Raven cheered. "This is great! A real break from all that training and worrying about Shaw trying to kill us all. Finally!"

"Technically, we had a break three days ago because of the rain," I reminded, sticking a finger in the air.

"That doesn't count, we were still stuck in the mansion," Raven argued playfully.

"Everybody ready?" Charles asked us, and everyone nodded. "Let us go, then," Charles smiled.

The eagerly-chattering batch of teenagers walked ahead as we entered into the crowded mall.

I gawked at the beautiful interior of the mall, "I have never seen a mall look this beautiful," I commented, my eye sweeping over the design.

"Almost like a utopia, right?" Charles asked, a smile on his face. I rolled my eyes at him for referencing my comment earlier, as a smile formed on my lips. "Okay, everyone!" Charles announced. "Gather around! I got something to say, it won't be long," Charles continued. "You all are free to explore the mall, but I have two rules. Do not draw attention to yourselves and you must be back at the cars by 6:30," Charles explained. "Am I clear?" Charles asked, looking around at the younger mutants and they all nodded their heads. "Good, have fun," Charles finished smiling.

The boys immediately took off, Sean and Alex went in one direction while Hank walked in the opposite direction. So, now that just left us with Moira, Charles, Erik, Raven, and I. The five of us made our way down the long galleria, but the quick glittering of something bright in the corner of my eye caused me to stop. As if in a trance I walked over to a jewelry's storefront window display, stopping in front of it I stared at the glittering pieces of the marvelously crafted and elegant jewelry.

"Beautiful, isn't it?" a voice commented, I whipped my head around to see Charles standing behind me flashing a grin. "Do you see something you like?"

I glanced back over to the display case, "Everything," I answered simply, and Charles just chuckled.

"Okay, how about being a bit more specific," Charles suggested, a playful smile on his face.

"Alright," I began, admiring a particularly lovely necklace. "That one," I stated, pointing to a gorgeous Baltic amber necklace on a sterling silver chain. "I never seen anything like it," I smiled, looking over at Charles.

"The diamonds don't catch your fancy?" Charles asked curiously.

"Well, diamonds are a girl's best friend, but...I don't know why, but this necklace is speaking to me," I explained, folding my arms across my chest.

Charles grinned and began speaking, but I couldn't focus on the words coming out his mouth. It felt as if someone was burning hole through my skull with their stare, turning my head to the left I met the gaze of an older white man. He grinned at me, but the warmth didn't reach his eyes. Just as I was about return the gesture out of courtesy, I was suddenly struck by a pulse.

 _Lust._

I scrunched my nose, disgusted, I shot the man a glare. I placed my hand on Charles' arm silently telling him that we should go, but he didn't seem to notice my hand. I looked up and into Charles' eyes only to see him glaring at the man as well.

Charles must have obviously heard whatever thought ran across the perverted man's mind, while I had the unfortunate pleasure of feeling what he was thinking.

Charles placed his hand on my back, "Let's catch up with the others, shall we?" Charles suggested, but it was more of an order as ushered me away from the jewelry store.

"Gladly,"

~~~x~~~

"Charles?" I prompted, softly. He turned his head in my direction. "It's been about five minutes since our little encounter and I want to know what that dirty old man was thinking," I explained, meeting Charles' stare.

Charles rubbed the back of his neck, "I'm almost embarrassed to say," Charles stated, a flush creeping up his neck and to his cheeks.

"Humor me,"

"Alright. Well, to begin with, I could hear the man groan in his mind," Charles began.

I twisted my nose up, "Eww," I broke in, letting out a groan myself.

"This is what the man thought, and I quote, 'Ooo, mama...She's a pretty one. I wouldn't mind getting some of that tonight,'" Charles recited, scrunching his nose up as well. "I feel dirty for even saying those words aloud," Charles added, as we walked into a department store.

I laughed, "Ditto," I agreed.

It seemed my laughter attracted the attention of a sales rep, a pretty blonde dressed in red, with her hair done up in a flipped bouffant.

"May I help you?" She asked, completely ignored me and directing the question solely at Charles.

 _"Jesus Christ, this place_ ," _I thought._

I lowered my mental barrier and glanced at Charles.

 _"You're right, I won't be bothered here. They'll just act like I don't exist," I thought. "Or think of me as a sex object. And I can't tell which one is worse,"_

"I'll make myself scarce then," I informed, glancing at Charles one last time.

I sighed and decided to go find Raven, I made my way away from them, I heard Charles quickly answer with a 'No' and hurry past the rep. Charles caught my wrist and tried to stop me, but I shook him off.

 _"Charles, let me have my space," I thought._

I walked away without hindrance and continued on my journey to join Raven who was most likely in the women's department. Following the signs I found the department and Raven who was currently sorting through tops, even though she had plenty of clothes draped across her arm.

"And hear I thought I was the person to buy a ton of clothes," I commented smiling.

"Hey!" Raven cried, smiling herself. "They're not all for me, I picked stuff out for you to," Raven explained, looking up from her task. "You and Charles were taking to long," Raven added shrugging, and handed me the clothes she picked out.

I examined the clothes and checked the sizes which were strangely correct, "How did you know my size?" I asked, lifting my eyes away from the tag.

"I may have went into your room..." Raven answered, trailing off.

I lifted my eyebrow, "You did _what_?" I questioned, wanting an explanation.

"I didn't mean to," Raven began, lifting her hands in surrender. "Our laundry got mixed together and I went to return your shirts to your room. I know I shouldn't have, but I went snooping in your closet and drawers, I wanted to know your size in case I wanted to give you a gift or something," Raven explained, and I could see that she meant well.

"While I appreciate the thought Raven, please don't go in my room unless I say you can," I stated, giving her a pointed look.

She nodded her head, "Won't happen again. I promise," Raven assured.

"Good,"

"So..." Raven began.

"So, what?" I repeated, wondering where this was going.

"So do you like Erik or Charles now? I'm confused," Raven asked as we walked down the aisle to lingerie.

"I beg your pardon? What? I asked confused, raising my eyebrow. "I don't like Erik," I stated, shaking my head "Well, not like _that,_ if that's what you're implying," I added.

"But you _do_ like Charles?" She questioned. "You didn't deny it," Raven pointed out.

"Maybe a little. So what? I'm a big girl," I said shoving her playfully and putting my head on her shoulder as we walked.

"I'm pretty sure he likes you too. I've lived with him for so long and I've never seen him look at anyone the way he looks at you," She explained. "But what's going on with you and Erik?"

I sighed, "Nothing is going on between Erik and I. We're friends, which is something I thought would never say," I laughed, as I began looking through a rack of lacy undergarments.

"So what did I see between the two of you during training a couple of days ago?" Raven asked, looking up from her rack.

My hand paused and I lifted my head to meet Raven's gaze, "Nothing," I answered shrugging. "We were practicing hand to hand combat, he knocked me off my feet and then proceeded to pin me to the ground," I explained, shrugging my shoulders before continue my search through the undergarments. "Nothing you should look too deeply into," I added, trying to convince her.

Or...maybe I was trying to convince myself.

"Speak of the devil, look who it is," I commented, spotting the metal bender approaching us from afar. Raven's face went beet red, I don't know why though, possibly because of Erik approaching us while we're looking though undergarments. "No need to be embarrassed Raven, I'm sure Erik has seen lingerie before," I assured, lifting up a set off the rack. "He's probably even helped a few women out them," I added smirking, picking up another set.

"Dia..." Raven groaned.

"What?" I asked smiling, and shrugging my shoulders. "Erik, you naughty boy," I called, once he was closer to us. Erik rolled his eyes and chuckled, before propping one foot on the bottom of the rack and leaning against it. "What would people think seeing you in this section?" I asked, a playful tone evident in my voice.

"You know I could care less what people think, Claudia,"

"True enough," I conceded. "Speaking of what others think..." I trailed off. "Which one do you like?" I asked lifting both sets of lingerie up, one in each hand.

The set in my left hand was a pale blue embroidered with bright white lace, the fabric was silky and sheer and wonderful to the touch. The undergarment in my right hand, my favorite of the two, was a matching deep red bra and high waisted briefs, that was all lace and satin. The garment was meant for one purpose, seduction.

Erik brought two fingers to his chin and began to rub it as if he was thinking hard, "I don't know, it's hard to choose. Maybe you should model them for me," Erik answered smirking.

My eyes widened as I let out a laugh of disbelief and my face heating up from the comment. In the corner of my eye I could see that Raven's jaw nearly dropped to the floor.

Laughing softly at my awed expression, Erik lifted his finger and pointed it to the right, "Choose the red set, the red sets off your black hair and brown eyes, not to mention it goes well with your skin color," Erik explained, shoving his hands in his pockets.

I nodded my head and smiled, "Thank you Erik for your expert opinion," I grinned, and Erik mirrored my expression before walking off.

"How were you not in the least bit embarrassed?" Raven questioned, her eyes wide.

"It's just underwear, what's to be embarrassed about?" I asked back smiling, with a shrug of my shoulder.

Raven chuckled, "Okay, but what about his modeling joke? I would have been red as a tomato if he said that to me," Raven stated, quickly glancing in the direction that Erik walked away from us.

"I'm quite flattered actually," I quipped, still a smile on my face.

Raven shook her head slightly, "I wish I had your confidence," she said a little sullenly.

"You will...maybe not today or tomorrow...but someday," I reassured, placing a hand on her arm and giving it a reassuring squeeze. "We'll work it on together. Now, come on, let's check out,"

~~~x~~~

I was laying on my back on Raven's bed staring up at the ceiling, my hand trailed up and down her thick warm duvet, the cover a wool and cotton blend.

"I look like terrible like this," Raven groaned,

I quickly pushed myself up from Raven's sturdy, yet soft mattress, "No! No you don't, you look amazing," I protested, staring at Raven in her true dark blue form.

Raven turned around to face me as her skin changed back to it's fair complexion, her pupils shifted from yellow to blue. She plopped down next to me and sighed as I ran my hand through the white fur throw, I glanced at the picture frame on Raven's dresser that had a picture of her, Charles, and a blonde haired woman that was probably their mother.

"I don't know why would you want to look like you do now? I mean, I understand your opinions and reasons...but why would you want to look your mother?" I questioned, tilting my head.

A tense silence followed the end of my sentence.

Raven slowly craned her toward me, her eyes wide as saucers, "How...did you know that?" she uttered, her skin becoming ashen.

"I'm so sorry," I apologized, turning my body to fully face Raven. "A few days ago you looked upset when you were staring at a picture of your mother. I had my shields down at the same time as I walked by you," I explained, running a hand through my hair. "Just as I was about to reseal my emotions, I felt this sudden wave of self-loathing and the strong desire to look like your mother," I continued, my lips forming a thin line. "Raven, I swear that I was not trying to snoop about your head," I promised, taking a hold of her hand and squeezing it.

Raven awkwardly nodded her head at my confession, I could see the varying emotions appearing on her face. We soaked up the silence.

I released Raven's hand and rose from her bed, "I should starting heading for my room," I announced, finally breaking the quiet and Raven just nodded. I made my way to her bedroom door and put my hand on the doorknob, pausing to look back at her before I left. "And remember Raven, confidence is key," I recited, a soft grin on my face as I opened the door and stepped out.

"Thanks Dia," Raven smiled, a grateful expression on her face. "Good night," she called.

I nodded my head, "Good night," I repeated, closing the door behind me.

Heading back to my room was a quiet affair, there was no one in the hallway, everyone was most likely getting ready for bed. I twisted the knob to my door and entered the room. My bed was buried underneath bags and bags of shopping. A smile grew on my lips at the thought of having new outfits and not being forced to wear the same clothes over and over.

My smile faltered when I spotted an unfamiliar small bag on my night stand. I pushed my door closed and walk over to my bed in confusion. I pick up the note attached to the bag in the front and read it.

 _Claudia,_

 _I'm sorry about today, from the perverted old man objectifying you to the woman who disregarded your entire existence. You were right about me, I am a bit naive. I thought since there wouldn't be any signs banning you from coming in then there would be no problems. It was a foolish thought, racism doesn't just magically disappear. Though your evening was spoiled I wanted to give you something that truly seemed to bring you joy tonight._

 _Charles  
_

I reached into the small bag and my fingertips brushed against something soft. Lifting the soft item up I could see now it was a long, velvet jewelry box. My eyes lit up slightly as I had inkling to what I was holding. Flipping open the box, I let out a soft laugh at what I was staring at.

It was that gorgeous Baltic amber necklace I spotted earlier.

* * *

 _ **AN: Long chapter, but I hoped you liked it.**_


	10. Old Wounds

_**AN: I'm back guys! I didn't realize how long it's been since I've updated, but I've been buckling down on my studies with the semester ending soon. Anyways, I hope you enjoy this long overdue chapter!**_

* * *

It was early morning at the Xavier Mansion and I just finished my morning cup of coffee, when I began walking around the mansion. The sound of light clinking could be heard from Hank's lab and I peeped my head in to see Hank peering down a microscope. I raised my fist and briskly rapped on the lab door which startled Hank in his chair. He looked up from the instrument and flashed me a shy smile.

I entered the lab and crossed my arms together, "What are you doing up so early?" I asked, sliding onto a stool across from Hank.

"Oh, you know how the saying goes, the early bird gets the worm," Hank answered, letting out a nervous chuckle.

I cocked my eyebrow, but didn't say anything as I stretched myself out, "Well, Hank you can have all them," I quipped, with a smile on my face.

"Why are you up?" Hank questioned, shifting in his seat.

"My body woke up and I couldn't go back to sleep, no matter how hard I tried to force myself," I answered shrugging, as my eyes did a quick glance at the microscope in front of me. "You know Hank, I've been wondering about something," I stated, placing both my arms on the table.

"And what would that be?"

"This serum you're making. It doesn't affect abilities right? Just appearance? Normalizes it?" I questioned him and he gave a small nod. "Why do you hate your mutation so much?" I asked inquisitively.

"Well, where to start? I have huge monkey feet, they're an eyesore to look at," Hank explained darkly, looking down at his shoes.

"Don't!" I scold him and he looked up at me in surprise. "Never say that about yourself Hank. I'm sure there are benefits to your mutation," I commented, trying to get him to see a bright side. "All mutations do," I added, nodding my head.

Hank scoffed slightly, "Like what? Earning another demeaning nickname?" Hank deadpanned, placing his hands on the table.

"It's not like you're alone in this," I pointed out, but Hank still looked at me unsurely.

"But you have an amazing gift Claudia. You are extremely lucky," Hank reasoned.

"Hey, even the best of powers can have cons," I tell him in an off handed tone. "For most of my life I thought my empathy was a curse. I _hated_ it," I added, balling my fist up.

"Okay, so explain it to me. You asked me so I'll ask you," Hank began. "Why would you hate your abilities?" He questioned.

I sit up straight and fold my leg underneath me, "Once upon a time I wasn't fully in control of my empathic and telekinetic powers. With me, I get emotions, and emotions are real whether they truly are or not. I become the person in a way so much deeper than a telepath could. I am not them, but I am no longer me," I explained, pausing so I could catch my breath. "It was exhausting, the constant migraines I had, not to mention the shields I built to block everyone's emotions worked sporadically," I continued, looking down at the black top of the table. "You have no idea what it's like to be afraid of the damage that you could potentially do because of the powers your born with. But...all of that changed when I met _him_...my mentor," I finished, looking back up at Hank with a slight frown on my face.

"It sounds as though you don't like him very much,"

"That's thing I shouldn't like him, but yet in some twisted way, I owe him everything," I confided quietly. "If it weren't for him, I would have never been able to master my abilities. Hell, even when he was mentoring me I think we just scratched the surface of what I can do. It's probably for the best though, who knows what kind of trouble I would've gotten into or caused," I stated, a mirthless laugh escaping my lips.

"But you could never hurt anyone, you're too kind," Hank insisted, as if it was obvious. I let out a faint laugh, and Hank furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. "Why did you laugh at that?" Hank questioned.

"Very rarely have I been called 'kind', that's why I laughed. It's just nice to hear it for a change," I explained, shrugging my shoulders.

Hank nodded his head understandingly and we sat in a comfortable silence. My eyes moved from Hank to the window behind him, my eyes focusing on the magnificent array of gold and pink that colored the landscape before me. It was strange, to be able to slightly let my guard down and become relaxed around Hank, or anyone in the mansion and let them get to know me more. It felt nice to finally have friends.

I focused my gaze back to Hank only to find that he was looking down awkwardly at the floor.

"What is it?" I asked with concern and he fumbled about with his hands not sure to say.

"Claudia, while I sympathize with your plight and what you've gone through, it's still different. I mean, even though you're a mutant your still beautiful, people can't see your mutation and they wouldn't think of you as a freak. They would see you as a goddess," He spoke stubbornly.

"Thank you Hank, I'm flattered," I chuckled, a gentle smile gracing my face. "But I can tell you that not everyone in this world holds that same sentiment," I informed him with a small laugh.

"Well then their blind," Hank stated, a chuckle escaping his lips. He momentarily dropped his stare down to the table before he looked back at me. "Look Claudia, I-uh, I promised myself that I'd find a cure ever since I was a little boy," Hank went on. "And I'm glad you don't care what my feet look like, but it's how _I_ feel," Hank told me with a sigh, the two of us glance at the blood sample that Hank was studying.

Unfolding my leg I stood up from my stool and waltzed over to Hank, "You know Hank, you're quite stubborn," I mused, letting out a sigh of my own. "But it's your choice, Hank," I added smiling, placing a hand on his shoulder.

He nodded, "Thank you," He replied, a sigh of relief escaping him.

I pulled him into a side hug, "That doesn't mean I don't like it though," I muttered, making Hank chuckle.

* * *

 _I wearily trudged to the door and opened it to find the hallway almost leering at me, like it was speaking to me. Shaking it off, I stepped out into the even chillier air and made my way down to the lab from hell where the Devil incarnate himself was waiting for me. I do not have the energy for this today, then again…when have I ever? When I heard him commanding me to be in the lab in two minutes or to suffer the consequences. I considered staying in my room, wanting to aggravate him, but decide against it, not wanting to stretch it too terribly much. So, o_ _n shaky legs I continued my miserable journey to the basement of-  
_

"Claudia," my head snapped to the side at the sound of my name being called, my eyes slightly wide. Blue eyes and dark hair. _Charles_. "Are you alright?" He asked softly, standing next to me. "You had a faraway look in your eyes," Charles commented. "And you also started to make some items in here levitate," Charles added quietly.

Charles opened his mouth again to speak, but all I could hear was my blood pumping in my veins and I closed my eyes tightly to try and calm down, my head swimming with images of my past. My eyes glanced back over to the window I was in front of and stared through the glass pane, it promised to be a beautiful day. Clear skies, temperature below 60, but still warm enough for us to enjoy. I wasn't there now. I was _here_. Here, staying in a house that belonged to Charles Xavier. I was as far away from that life as humanely possible. I would never do anything I didn't want to do ever again.

"Claudia?"

I looked over to Charles again, "I'm fine," I breathed, not even realizing that my fingernails were digging into my palms until Charles gently took my right fist and pried it open before doing the same with my left."I was just...thinking. That's all," I answered, flashing him a faux smile.

It was another skill I mastered over the years, hiding my true emotions. If I were to let them show, people would see me as weak. I turned around fully to see Erik and Moira already staring at me, both of them with different expressions. Moira was visibly concerned, while Erik's lips were pressed together creating a thin line. His eyes, they were guarded, as if he wasn't certain what to think of this situation. Or maybe Erik was always like this. It's hard to tell with him.

I looked back over to Charles, "Please, continue," I stated, motioning my hand for him to speak.

Charles gave me a slight nod and cleared his throat, "As I was previously saying, the wings aren't ready yet. Hank has informed me that he has to put the last touches on them today," Charles announced, looking between the three of us.

 _"What wings?" I thought._

Moira ran a hand through her straight brown locks, "It's no secret that Sean has a talent for destroying property, but isn't it counterproductive to throw him out a window of what we're trying to accomplish here?" Moira asked, letting out a sigh.

"Wait, we're throwing Sean out of a window?" I questioned, raising an eyebrow in amusement. "I would love to know the logic behind this," I stated, a grin now on my face.

"Charles and Hank apparently think he can fly," Moira explained, looking at me.

I folded my arms together, "Unless I'm mistaken, Sean's only power is his supersonic scream," I reminded, staring at Charles. "How does flying coincide with his ability?" I asked curiously.

"It's the sound waves that Sean emits," Charles began. "When his sound waves hit supersonic they'll carry him," Charles finished.

"Interesting," I nodded my head, I slowly turned back around and stared out of the window again. My attention focused on the towering satellite on Charles' land, as I lifted my right thumb to my lip, sensing that this conversation was over.

"Charles, I've been meaning to ask more about your ideas for training," Moira announced, standing up from her seat.

"Ah, yes! I would love to talk about that," Charles answered happily, I could envision his eyes lighting up at the opportunity to discuss his ideas. "We'll talk it over a cup of tea, yes?" Charles proposed.

"Sounds lovely," Moira agreed.

I heard the two of of them leaving the room, but didn't bother turning around. My eyes were still trained outside, softly biting my thumb. How did I let this happen to me? I thought I was over of what happened in the past. All it took was me to mention him and suddenly the band-aid that was placed on my wound was ripped off and I'm back to being to that frightened girl I once was.

"Are you alright, Claudia?" Erik asked, breaking me out of my reverie. I didn't say anything or look his way. Just nodded. Suddenly, he was in front of me, and I inhaled deeply, and I involuntarily took a step back. "Look at me," Erik said gently, and I refused to do so. That was until I felt two rough, calloused fingers lift my chin. "Something troubles you Claudia, I don't need to be a mind reader to know that. Your posture and your face are all the evidence I need," Erik finished, as my brown eyes met his blue ones.

"I'm fine," I answered, pushing his hand away. "Just like I said earlier," I insisted, before turning around to leave the room as well.

I was not in the mood to talk. Not about this.

At the doorway of Charles' study I stopped, "Stop fretting over me Erik, you're gonna give yourself a heart attack," I warned, before walking into the hallway.

I hadn't taken more than a few steps when I spotted my shape-shifting friend turning down the same hallway I was.

"Afternoon Raven," I greeted, mustering up a small smile on my face. Raven didn't return my warm expression as she walked past me, and I cocked my head while furrowing my eyebrows. I turned on my heel and stared at Raven's back. "Raven!" I called, walking at a quick speed to catch up with her as she went down another hallway. "Hey!" I called again, this time grasping her arm. "Have I done something to upset you?" I asked, releasing her arm.

"I just don't understand why you are doing what you're doing," Raven murmured.

"What?" I asked, my face scrunched up in confusion.

"I get that you and Charles have a _thing_ going on, but why isn't that good enough for you?" Raven asked lowly, but the anger was evident in her voice. I scoffed as Raven finally turned around to face me. "You know, I've been noticing that you and Erik have been acting _too_ friendly to be just friends and you just brushed it off saying it was nothing. But now it seems you turned sights on Hank-"

I waved my hands in the air, "Whoa, whoa, whoa!" I interjected, my eyes widening at Raven's accusation. "Raven, what the hell are you talking about?" I asked, placing my hands on my hips. "If you're insinuating what I think you are, first of all how dare you! Second of all, I am most certainly not doing what you're accusing of me of," I stated, defending myself. "Where did this all come from? I thought we were friends!" I reminded, crossing my arms against my chest.

"It's just that, that," Raven began, but ended up letting out a frustrated groan and running a hand through her long, blonde hair.

My face softened and reached my arm out to Raven and gently grabbed her arm, "What is bothering you, Raven?" I asked, the anger inside of me ebbing away as I was truly curious what made her have such an outburst towards me.

"You are! You're so _perfect,"_ Raven sighed, frustration written all over her face. "Perfect _face_ , perfect _powers_ , perfect _body_ ," Raven listed, almost spitefully.

"Oh, come on Raven, nobody is perfect," I corrected gently, forcing back a smile as I thought back to when Charles and I were discussing the same thing. "I have my imperfections just like everyone else," I assured, giving her arm a slight squeeze.

"Where are they, because I don't see them," Raven disagreed, shaking her head and then crossing her arms. "You're just saying that to make me feel better," Raven grumbled.

I smiled slightly, "Truly, I am not," I replied, shaking my head. I exhaled deeply. "Well, I hope yelling at me got whatever that was plaguing you out," I mused, crossing my arms.

Raven put her head in her hands, "I'm sorry," Raven sighed, lifting her head back up to face me. "It's just that I saw and heard you with Hank this morning and my mind just created so many stupid scenarios," Raven explained, her face flushed with embarrassment. "And then I saw you and Erik, but I turned ar-" Raven rambled on.

"I'm sorry Raven, but I'm beginning to notice a pattern here," I chimed in, raising an eyebrow. "Are you following me around?" I asked, my expression turning serious now.

"No!" Raven exclaimed quickly. "Well, at least not on purpose. This morning I went to check on Hank's progress with the serum and then I saw you two hugging and just now I saw you and Erik very close to each other," Raven explained, lowering her gaze to the decorative rug covering the wooden floor. "Just like when you were sparring," Raven added quietly, before raising her eyes to meet mine.

"Look Raven, despite what you think I do not have an objective of being with every man in the house, okay? The mansion is predominantly male, so yes, it's going to be more common that I'm talking to someone of the opposite gender," I explained, placing my hands on hips. "Makes sense now?" I asked, cocking an eyebrow at her.

Raven nodded her head, "Oh God, I'm so sorry, Dia," Raven apologized again. "I can't believe I was that stupid to even think that of you," Raven groaned, hiding her face in her hands temporarily. Raven uncovered her face, "C'mon, let me make you lunch. It's the least I can do," Raven offered, letting out a laugh.

"It certainly is,"

~~~x~~~

 _"You know what I just adore about you, my dear Claudia? I can break you every night, and you'll still be a viable subject by the next morning,"_

I threw punches at the punching bag as if the source of all my bottled up pain was actually here, standing right in front of me. I struck the bag as fast and hard as I could attempting to release all my pent up frustration. Why won't these God forsaken memories just disappear from my mind. I was angry. Frustrated. Upset. Ashamed. Embarrassed. My behavior was unacceptable. I was a broken, scared little girl. I was pathetic. I could never help save the world.

 _I was_ _so fucking weak_.

Never ending questions nagged at my brain as I furiously punched, ignoring the blood dripping off my knuckles.

"Claudia, stop before I make you stop," a velvety voice from behind me ordered.

I turned my head slightly and there stood Erik in his grey sweatsuit, "I'm fine," I stated simply wiping my knuckles on my pants, and positioning myself to continue training once more.

Erik stepped in front of the punching bag, grabbed my wrists in a firm, but not painful grip and pulled me into him, his steely blue eyes gazing intently into my own assessing me like a predator would it's prey.

"You had a thousand stare earlier, slightly lost control of your telekinesis, and now your beating a punching bag until your fists are raw and bloody," Erik pointed out, glancing at my bloodied fists. "And you honestly think that you're fine?" Erik asked, arching a brow and dropping my hands.

"Didn't I tell you to stop worrying about me?" I asked back, annoyed that he wouldn't leave well enough alone.

"But that's what _friends_ do, we worry about each other," Erik informed, folding his arms together. "You would do the same for me, I hope," Erik added, a small smile forming on his lips.

I took a deep breath and slowly nodded in agreement.

"Come on, I'll clean those up for you," Erik said simply, leading me out of the gym and into a small white room which looked like a small medical bay he lead me over to sink and carefully cleaned my wounds then applied some anesthetic cream. "Sorry if it hurts," Erik apologized quietly, surprising me with his thoughtfulness. I found myself unintentionally smiling to myself. "What's so funny?" Erik questioned with a small smile, finishing up with the bandages.

"It's just that...when we first met, I thought you were the biggest asshole known to man," I began, with a smile of my own. "But now I know that's not true, it's good to know that you're a nice man after all," I finished, pushing off from the sink.

"You think I'm a nice guy, I'm flattered truly I am," Erik replied cheekily. "Any other first impressions you had about me that I should know about?" Erik questioned, arching his brow in amusement while walking out of the door.

"Well, I also thought you were pretty handsome," I began, and Erik' face lit up with what looked like amusement. "But your personality soon negated all of your attractiveness," I added, with a smirk on my lips as I left the small room as well.

Suddenly Erik lifted me up and spun me around.

"Erik! Stop! Friends don't do this!" I said between laughs while attempting to escape his grasp.

" _Some_ friends do!" He countered with a wink. "Now with me being a friend to Claudia, I have to wonder where the _real_ Claudia is. Two compliments within a minute apart, I find that suspicious," Erik remarked, and let out a laugh.

"Erik! Put me down right now!" I scolded, with a smile on my face even though I hated the fact I'd lost control of the situation so easily. From over Erik's shoulder I saw Charles at the end of the hallway with a raised eyebrow. "Charles!" I called, a smile still on my face. "My knight in shining armor, come save me!" I exclaimed, reaching my arm out towards Charles and laughing.

"Don't listen to her Charles, this is just a lookalike. She has been too kind to me today, this can't possibly be the Claudia we know!" Erik claimed, his laughter vibrating against me.

Charles chuckled as well as he followed behind us, "You know Erik, I think you might be on to something," Charles agreed, smiling at me.

"Charles!" I called again, my mouth opened in shock that he took Erik's side instead of mine and Charles just shrugged an amused expression still on his face. I rolled my eyes and grinned myself before turning my attention back to the metal bender carrying me to the living room. "Hey, let me go!" I ordered, lightly hitting Erik's back with my fist.

"Fine," Erik answered simply.

In an instant I landed hard on the floor with a thud. I watched as Erik walked down the hallway laughing all the way. He dropped me? He knew exactly what I meant when I told him to put me down. The audacity of him to do that. I'd show him, you can bet your bottom dollar that I will have the last laugh.

Charles extended his hand out towards me, "It seems you've taken a tumble, my dear," Charles remarked smiling.

I grabbed it and hopped to my feet, "Yeah, no thanks to that asshole," I commented, nodding my head in the direction of Erik.

"Ah, it seems we were wrong," Charles began with a chuckle. "There's the Claudia we know," Charles finished, leading me into the living room and I rolled my eyes again.

I spotted Erik standing with a relaxed posture, his hands in his pockets as he waited for Charles and I. He smirked at me and I just slid my index finger across my throat.

"Well, since the two of you are here, I wanted to test an idea out I had with your powers," Charles started, looking at me. "Claudia, I've been thinking about your empathic powers. We know you can use your 'persuasive' ability on people verbally. I want you to inside Erik's mind and give him an order without speaking,"

"What do you want me to make him do?"

Charles hesitated and looked at Erik, "What do you feel comfortable doing?"

Erik thought for a moment, "Nothing that will cause me extreme bodily harm," Erik answered, giving me a knowing glance.

Fine, I'd think of something else. I closed my eyes and lifted my mental shields as the confusion, curiousness, and a hint of tiredness sparked through my mind from Erik's. An idea popped in my head and I smiled to myself. I opened my eyes and stared at Erik unflinchingly which he returned, I cocked my head to the side and began my work with Erik's brain.

 _"You're feeling tired," I began. "Very tired," I added._

Erik let out a yawn as I furrowed my brow in concentration.

 _"Y_ _ _ou feel dead on your feet, y_ ou should have a seat right now," I suggested. "The chair behind you is just calling your name," I continued.  
_

I pushed my suggestion into his head and Erik squatted down as if to sit down on the chair. But there wasn't a chair, so he fell to the floor on his ass. Erik looked up at me and glared.

I smiled triumphantly, "It's what you deserve," I commented, content with myself.

Charles was happy as well, "Excellent!" Charles cheered, before holding his hand out to Erik to helping him back to his feet.

"Am I done being the test dummy?" Erik asked, an annoyed expression on his face.

"Yes, you were a great help just now," Charles answered cheerfully, Erik shot me one last glare before he left and I stuck my tongue at him childishly. "A bit of fresh air will do the body good, don't you think?" Charles questioned, sticking his hand for me to leave the room first.

"I do," I concurred, making my way out of the room and towards the doors that led to the stone deck.

I pushed the door opened and the fresh late afternoon almost evening air was such a relief. An immense amount of sudden stress completely wiped me out already. The door behind me closed with a soft click from Charles and walked over next to me.

"What happened to your hands Claudia?" Charles asked, grabbing a hold of them and softly running his thumb across my knuckles.

"I got carried away with the punching bag, that's all. Please don't work up a sweat about me, I just had some steam to blow off," I explained, a reassuring smile on my lips.

Charles' brow furrowed as he looked out into the sprawling greenery that almost resembled the gardens of Versailles. The cool October breeze wrapped around us quite heavily as it sent chills down my spine and blew black strands of hair across my face. Charles noticed how my body reacted from the breeze and quickly took his jacket off and placed around my shoulders.

"Claudia," Charles started, giving his jacket a quick tug making sure I was snug within it. "I want you to know that whatever is bothering you, you don't have to face it alone," Charles reminded gently.

"What makes you think something is bothering me?" I asked, looking up at him.

"You haven't been your usual self, I mean I've barely heard a witty comment from you all day," Charles answered, a slight chuckle escaping his lips.

"It's better that I do though, you know, when it comes to facing my own problems alone," I answered, before looking over at the gardens as well. "I've done it for years now, what's a few more weeks going to change?" I inquired, shrugging my shoulders before turning my attention back to him.

"Everything," Charles answered, placing each of his hands on my shoulders looking straight into my eyes. "It could change everything, Claudia," Charles repeated, rubbing soothing circles on my biceps before his hands slid down my arms.

~~~x~~~

I laid wide awake in bed, my eyes spacing out, my mind somewhere else, I had been awakened by a dream. Not a dream, exactly, more a memory of a rain made of ashes. The stomach-churning scent of the burning bodies still scorched my nostrils whenever I thought about it. I saw a young boy in ragged striped pajamas and there was also a woman who appeared to be middle aged, but she looked so much older than she should. She was filthy and was in ragged pajamas, just like the boy. And there was a man, a man who looked all too familiar...

That's when I heard something. A creaking of sort. I sat up softly, and my eyes glued onto the door, as the sound grew louder, and soon I knew clearly it was footsteps. I got up, and hesitated by my door, until the muffled noises were faint. I crept out my door, and followed the suspect as I caught their shadow turning to the left in the hallway.

With quiet steps, and making sure to be in line with the shadows, I stalked behind whoever it was. Soon I was close enough to try and take out the figure's features. My night vision not being very strong. But before I could even make out their face, a voice spoke.

"I should have known you would follow me," It was hollow, and low.

I stepped into the speck of light the gleaming moon gave off, "Sorry. I was curious as to why you would be up and lurking around past midnight," I responded to Erik, and moved forth towards him.

"Could not sleep. But I should be asking you the same," He stated gravely.

I shrugged, "Got a lot on my mind," I explained lamely.

We stood there, giving moments of awkward silence, then he began to slip away towards the kitchen. His movement gave me a beckoning signal to follow him. Once there, he dug in the fridge, and tugged out a bottle of beer. He glanced over at me once I sat on the island counter watching him. "Want one?" He asked.

I scoffed at him, my brows raised, and expression saying 'seriously?'.

"I'm too much of a lady to drink beer," I quipped.

A soft chuckle erupted from him and he shook his head, as he pulled out a bottle of pop for me. I gladly took it, and he popped off the caps of both drinks. The two of us taking a swig of our bottles.

"So, what was life like for you before Charles and I hunted you down and dragged you here against your will?" Erik asked, his back leaned against the island beside me, as his eyes roamed over the pictures hanging on the wallpapered walls.

I glanced down at my bottle, my right index finger tracing the rim of the bottle, as I stayed mute after hearing his question. It was a long enough silence to notify him, and let him glimpse over at me.

"Or...don't answer my question," He muttered brashly.

I gave a soft sigh, "I lived in South Carolina until I was five, my grandpa was murdered by the KKK, they bombed his bookstore. It was a miracle that I survived," I began, Erik looked over at me, a sympathetic expression painted on his face. "Then we moved to Pennsylvania, and that's what I considered to be home for me. After I graduated high school, I moved to Maryland and attended college. I graduated and now I'm living the American Dream the best that a black woman can," I explained, purposefully excluding certain events that I wasn't ready to share. "Nothing quite special about my life, Erik," I added.

"I'm sorry about your grandfather, Claudia," Erik apologized, placing his beer down. "But I know there's more to your story than that. I know there is _something_ or _someone_ from your past that you're running from. Trust me, I know all the signs," Erik argued softly, and my throat felt awfully dry because of the statement. "If you don't want to tell me about your past, fine. But answer this question for me. Why are you up?" Erik asked again. "And don't tell me another terrible lie," he added.

I sighed, staring into my drink, before answering, seemingly measuring my words, "Sometimes my walls come down when I sleep deeply enough, so my empathy is open. When people have nightmares or sleep fitfully, it can wake me up if the emotional signature is strong enough," I shrugged, a bit embarrassed.

Erik froze, "Do you ever...um... _see_ what people dream?" He scratched the back of his head, projecting nonchalance.

My brown eyes narrowed in speculation on the opening of my bottle, "It depends on if the nightmare is strong enough," I set the bottle down, my eyes sympathetic. "Usually what I see is so fractured that I don't understand it,"

He grunted in his throat in acquiescence, staring at the tabletop, "I've always wondered why Charles never wakes up,"

I shrugged, "Maybe his shields can't drop," I suggested. "He probably made them that way for when he sleeps or needs to block everything, he's had more practice than I. Then again, he's a telepath, so he's working to block thoughts and dreams and such. A person can hide what they think, but rarely can they hide what they feel," I informed.

"That sounded textbook," Erik smirked in humor.

I shrugged, "Probably was," I agreed laughing.

We stood in silence for a moment, before my eyes fell upon his left arm and I noticed some small black numbers. He followed my eyes and extended it fully toward me. The numbers stood out before me almost screaming at me the pain this man has been through.

"He hurt you, didn't he? Shaw did," I stated bravely, looking up from his arm.

"You...You saw what I dreamed, didn't you?" Erik questioned, returning my stare and I silently nodded.

"Sorry," I whispered apologetically, and he just mimicked my nod. "H-How old were you?" I asked quietly. "When-When'd it happen?" I asked again, glancing at his arm.

"I was eleven,"

"Eleven?" I echoed, in shock. "That's so _young_ ," I breathed.

"You became a bomb survivor at the age of _five_ ," Erik reminded grimly, shaking his head.

Neither of us spoke for several long moments before I brushed a strand of hair behind my ear uncomfortably.

"There was a woman that I saw," I recalled. "Who was she?" I questioned, folding my arms together.

"My mother," he answered, staring at me.

I stood staring back at him unsure of what to say or if I wanted to ask the question that was now burning in the back of my mind. I opened my mouth to speak, but closed it and breathed deeply.

"How did she die, if you don't mind me asking?" I asked softly.

"My family and I were put in a concentration camp, as you know," Erik said quietly. His usual calm demeanor had dropped and now he was sad, almost angry. "It was there were Shaw shot my mother point blank and it was there where I discovered my ability," He answered, his mouth forming a thin line.

I couldn't even imagine witnessing your mother being shot point blank in front of you. It was completely unthinkable and horribly wrong. I shuddered at the thought of him witnessing such a thing.

"I'm sorry, I can't...can't even begin to imagine it,"

As if a sudden electric bolt of realization hit me, I was now aware of why I had woken up suddenly, feeling so...angry, so thirsty for vengeance. It was because Erik wanted Shaw so badly. It was the simple thought of revenge. He wanted to avenge his mother's death to finally be at peace with himself and with the thought of his mother's horrific death.

He blamed himself, but he shouldn't.

I placed a hand on Erik's shoulder for comfort, "We're going to get him," I promised, looking into his blue eyes with a determined stare and he raised his hand covering mine and gave it a soft squeeze.

"There was a never doubt that we wouldn't,"

* * *

 _ **AN: Here we are at the end of a very long chapter, but you guys deserve it because of my absence. Hope you enjoyed it! And sorry if there are any mistakes!  
**_


	11. Bottled-Up

_**AN: I'm back again with another chapter! This chapter wasn't even originally in the story, but it just popped into my head and I had to write it. The next chapter should be back on track with the movie though. Also, to answer your question DarkLordofMemes I probably won't be updating my BOB story anytime soon. I need to finish this story and then my two Avengers stories before I circle back to it.  
**_

* * *

"Claudia," Erik called. "I'm bored,"

We were sitting in Central Park where I sat on a bench enjoying the fall season of New York. The sound of children playing freely with their parents was all around me, and I couldn't help but to wish that was the childhood I had. So carefree, so _normal_.

"And what does that have to do with me?" I asked, too immersed in my reading to look up.

"I'd figured that maybe you would entertain me," Erik suggested.

I rolled my eyes and chuckled before I continued my reading, switching from both hands holding the novel to my left hand holding it open as I bit the nail of my right thumb.

"If you wanted entertainment, you should have stayed with Moira and Charles to watch the musicians playing," I reminded dryly, finally looking up from my book and turning my head to follow the sound violins being played beautifully.

They played Bach and Handel, then they moved to Mozart and then they played some pieces that I was unable to identify, that were possibly compositions of their own. Their fingers moved as if they were dancing over the necks of the violins, the notes filled the air. The sound of high pitched laughter broke the daze I had gone into and my eyes darted to the source of it. A smile graced my lips as I watched a group of children playing tag with each other.

Erik followed my gaze, "How you ever thought about it?" Erik asked, looking over at me.

"Thought about what?" I asked back, turning my head to him.

"Having children of your own?"

"Maybe," I answered, slightly shrugging my shoulders. "If the world wasn't so cruel," I continued, sighing heavily. "I wouldn't want to raise my child in an environment that hates them the moment they're born," I added, shaking my head. "What about you? Do you want children?" I questioned, closing my copy of _The Great Gatsby_.

"I do," Erik answered, and I raised my eyebrows in shock.

"Boy or girl?" I asked again, turning my body to face him.

"Girl,"

"Aww, who knew that someone like Erik Lehnsherr would want a little baby girl," I teased, a smile on my face and Erik just rolled his eyes at me. "She'll be in good hands and well taken care of, she'll have a better childhood than the both of us," I proposed, nodding my head and smiling.

We sat in silence for a moment, Erik, I could feel him watching me, but I was too preoccupied by staring off into space, chewing on my bottom lip. Thinking of what could have been with my own family.

"Bombing aside," Erik began pulling me back to reality. "Did you have a happy childhood?" Erik asked, draping his arm over the back of the park bench, his body now facing my own.

"Bombing aside," I repeated, cocking my head to the side. "I would say I had a _decent_ childhood," I corrected. "Until I was seven," I remembered, my hand closing and forming a fist.

"What happened when you were seven?"

"I found out that I was different from most kids," I stated quietly, a tight-lipped smile appearing on my face.

 _A high pitched squeal escaped from my mouth as I kicked the ball back to my dad before I ran around our small backyard the grass tickling my feet. A wide smile on my face as my bare feet hit the cool green surface, my toes digging into the earth. A bright yellow spot caught my eye, surrounded by a sea of green grass. I forced myself to slow down and stopped at the yellow dot, bending down I realized it was a dandelion. My grin grew wider and I snatched it from the ground, raising up from the ground I turned to the back porch where my mom and grandma were residing.  
_

 _"Mama, look!" I yelled, proudly displaying my dandelion._

 _Mama lifted her head up from the sleeping of bundle of my sister and smiled at me, "That's so pretty, Claudia!" Mama cheered, and I nodded my head vigorously in agreement._

 _"Claudia watch out!" Daddy screamed._

 _I turned my head immediately to the sound of his voice and the ball we had been kicking was on a straight path to my face. I let out a shriek and threw my hands out to protect myself. And just like that, it seemed like time froze. I_ _peeked behind my raised arms and gasped, the ball hadn't hit me, instead_ _the ball was suspended in midair surrounded in a pretty shade of violet. Confused,_ _I lowered my arms and was shocked to see the ball slowly coming closer to the ground as I moved my arms down; I was _controlling_ whatever force held it. I lowered the ball to the ground gently, before releasing the force around the ball. _

_"Mama, Daddy! Did you see what I did?" I asked excitedly._

 _No one answered me. It was dead quiet and I s_ _wallowed nervously, as I looked at my parents and Grandma. Mama had her hand covering her mouth and her eyes were wide open, filling up with tears._ _Seconds later Daddy was at my side. Grandma got to her knees, before clasping her hands together and began praying quietly.  
_

 _"Claudia, what did you do?" Mama asked, in the most frightened tone I had ever heard her use._

"I knew my parents were horrified, even my father, although he never let it show. I mean why wouldn't he be. What I could do...it wasn't exactly normal behavior," I recalled, a mirthless laugh escaping my mouth.

"They didn't disown you, I hope?" Erik asked, a frown appearing on his face.

"Luckily, they didn't. Could you imagine throwing your seven year-old daughter out the house?" I speculated, knitting my eyebrows together. "That would be horrific!" I exclaimed.

"What did your parents do after witnessing your ability? How did they react?" Erik questioned.

"They told me they loved me regardless..." I trailed off.

 _Daddy knelt down in front of me and grasped my small shoulders, inspecting me closely, "Claudia…Sweetheart…Mama and I want you to stay quiet about this. Alright?"_

 _I frowned at what Daddy asked, "But why? It's amazing and so pretty!"_

 _Mama knelt down beside Daddy and gave me a small, sad smile, "Yes, it is. But you have to understand something...Sometimes...people get scared of things they don't understand," Mama explained._

 _I tilted my head to the side as I processed what Mama just said, "Why would people be scared?"_

 _"That's hard to explain, honey. Personally...we don't know of anyone that has a...gift...like you do. If you showed others, they may react badly to it and they might hurt you," Mama tried to further explain to me._

 _I looked down at the ground. I had noticed Mama's hesitation about using the word gift. It made me wonder. "Are you scared of me now?"_

 _At my question, both Mama and Daddy embraced me tightly. "No. No we're not," Daddy said with conviction.  
_

"But you didn't believe them, did you?"

"You know what? I did actually. It was what my Grandma said that made questioned my parents true feelings about my mutation,"

"What did she say?"

"She told me that one day there will be a cure for me," I spat, recalling my Grandma's words. "I thought that would be the worst thing she would say to me, but oh how wrong I was," I went on, shaking my head.

"I take it you developed your empathic powers soon after," Erik guessed.

I nodded, "Two weeks had barely passed after my telekinetic incident, when I started to get these horrible headaches," I explained. "That's when I began to pick up on emotions that weren't mine. I had told my parent's that I could feel their emotions as they passed through their minds. Of course, at first, they assumed I was playing around but after proving my talent to them both, they were shaken," I added.

I shook my head again, thinking back to how it had taken my family quite a while to get used to my empathy. To realize that a pain in your chest caused by the anguish that suddenly rose from no where was not your own, but someone else's. It was a violation in a way, and one that made my family hesitant to be near me.

"My Grandma turned completely hostile toward me. In an attempt to get rid of me, my Grandma suggested that they send me to psych ward because I was having a a mental breakdown," I stated, crinkling my noise in disgust while shaking my head. "God Erik, why did you ruin this beautiful by making me talk about my childhood," I groaned, running hand through my hair. "Now _I_ actually need some entertainment," I mentioned, standing up from the wooden bench and walking away from him.

"Claudia, wait," Erik called, and I could hear his footsteps jogging behind me. "Come on, you know that was never my intention," Erik reasoned, falling in line with my stride.

Sighing, I looked over at him and nodded my head, "I know," I agreed. "You know I can be over dramatic," I sighed, my lips quirking up into a small smile.

A cool breeze blew through the trees of Central Park, bringing with it a flurry of freshly fallen leaves which stood a stark contrast to flocks of lively birds making their way steadily northward. My eyes scanned my surroundings, people were about the park as always, going about their business as only New Yorkers truly could.

"Erik," I began, sliding my book into my coat pocket. "Do you think I'm going crazy?" I asked randomly, facing him again

Erik cocked an eyebrow and laughed, "What? No," Erik answered, shaking his head with a smile. "I haven't seen one sign that you're losing your mind," Erik continued, his smile widening. "A strange question to ask Claudia, I have to say," Erik stated, with a chuckle.

I shrugged, "I have a feeling that Charles thinks I'm going crazy," I theorized, interlocking my fingers together behind my back.

"Don't be ridiculous Claudia," Erik grinned. "What would ever make you think that?" Erik asked, letting out a hearty laugh.

"Why else do you think we took this impromptu trip here?" I pointed out, unlinking my fingers and sticking my hand in front of me. "He means wells, but all because I was distant two days ago, he's been like a mother hen," I complained, beginning to fiddle with the amber charm of my necklace. "Always watching me from over my shoulder and monitoring me. I haven't been able to really use my empathic powers because all Charles wants to do is focus on my telekinesis," I finished, a slight scowl appearing on my face.

"Here's a crazy thought, maybe he's just worried about you, Claudia," Erik replied sarcastically. "You have been a lot training these past two days, one would say too hard. You're not eating a lot, I noticed that you're up later than you usually are," Erik listed, ticking them off with his fingers. "Not to mention your temper has been shorter than usual," Erik remembered.

"I am not up late," I argued, knowing that the dark circles underneath my eyes I hid beneath my makeup showed all of the signs of restless night's sleep. "Nor have I been short of temper lately," I insisted, crossing my arms together.

"You cut your lights off at 11:00 pm on the dot every night. Recently, your lights have been on up until 1:00 am," Erik deadpanned, giving me a knowing look and my brow rose. "Yes, I've noticed that," Erik added, answering my silent question.

I really couldn't help myself from asking, "Oh, so you notice things about me?" I questioned grinning. "Because usually I have to tell you when you should look for something," I added, still grinning.

Erik rolled his eyes and laughed, "I notice things about everyone," he replied, and then looked at me slyly. "But I maybe paying some... _extra_ attention to you,"

We proceeded down the walkway not sure where I wanted to go, but I wanted to be somewhere. I came across one of the many fountains in Central Park and lowered my hand into the water and ran the tips of my fingers over it. A thought crossed my mind and I lifted my hand, flicking water at Erik and drew back from the onslaught of the water droplets.

"You're such a child," Erik commented, his lips curving into a smile as he went to grab for my hand which I easily spun away from.

"I try to be," I smiled back.

I moved off the cement path and walked onto the seemingly endless lawn of the park. I made my way further onto the grass until we come near a thick grove of oak trees interspersed with some hearty pines. There were people spread out all over the field of all sorts, around the clearing's edges parents watched their children idly. Women read magazines or gossiped with one another while men ate their lunches or smoked amongst the trees, college students were laid on picnic blankets or throwing a football around.

Sticking my hand out I began to trace the rough bark of the tree next to me, beginning to walk in a circle. I closed my eyes and let my hand guide me around the tree, circling the tree twice in blissful content.

"May I ask what you're doing?" Erik asked, stopping me in my tracks and I opened my eyes, Erik was standing next to me, an amused expression painted on his face.

I glanced at him and smirked, "Whatever I want I suppose," I answered, continuing on my path around the tree.

Erik began to circle the tree as well only he went the opposite way, "And what is it that you want Miss Walker?" Erik inquired.

"I'm in need of some entertainment, just like you," I answered, turning around to meet Erik in front of the tree. Erik abruptly stopped once he saw me, our fingers brushed together momentarily before I leaned my back against the tree, looking at him with a mischievous grin.

"What are you about to do?"

"That man can't remember if it's his wife's birthday or their anniversary," I informed, still grinning.

I pointed to a bald middle-aged man who walked to the right of us with a confused, thoughtful look on his face.

Erik continued to look at me confused, "What?"

I slid my hands into my coat pockets jut as another gust of the autumn breeze swept past me, causing me to shiver and sigh contentedly as it ruffled my dark hair. I closed my eyes for a split second before opening them.

"That woman, over there? Found out that her boyfriend was cheating on her. Nice right hook, that one," I commented smirking, before shifting gaze away from the woman. "And that man..." I trailed off, as he happened to look back to where we were.

He was a tall, young man probably the same age I was, his blond hair was tousled most likely from the breeze which framed his blue eyes along with his square jaw. He shot me a wonky grin and I just smirked and wiggled my fingers giving him a small wave as I stared into his eyes, scrapping what I had originally planned to do and formulating a new way to have some fun.

"What are you doing?" Erik murmured from beside me.

"Just watch,"

Suddenly, the football he had been previously throwing came sailing back towards him and striking him on the back of the head. The man flinched and let out a groan of pain, rubbing the back of his head.

"Hey man, what the hell!" He exclaimed. His friend glanced over at me, seeing that I'm the reason why the blond-haired man didn't see the football coming. "Are you blind? Why didn't you hold the ball?" he asked angrily, storming over to his friend.

"Relax Aaron," the friend snickered. "Stop ogling at a girl and pay attention next time," he suggested, shrugging his shoulders.

"You've got a problem, Luke?" Aaron asked, getting up in his friend's face.

"No, I think you have a problem," Luke said, shoving Aaron away from him.

I turned my head to Erik, "Are you entertained?" I asked grinning proudly, and Erik let out a short laugh.

I suddenly became aware of another presence near me and my head turned and gazed up at Charles.

"There you two are, everyone was wondering where you had gone off to," Charles greeted, a relieved smile on his face. "What are you two doing?" Charles inquired, looking between Erik and I.

"Oh, we're just watching a bit of entertainment," I answered, a smirk on my face. "Right Erik?" I asked, glancing up at him.

"That would be correct," Erik confirmed.

Charles looked over at me and followed my gaze, watching the shoving match between the two men.

"Oh my God, Claudia please don't tell me this is your doing?" Charles questioned, his eyes back on me now.

I turned my head to Charles, his was mouth set in a firm grimace, "What can I say? We were bored," I explained nonchalantly, shrugging my shoulders.

"That's enough Claudia, you've had your fun now," Charles declared.

"Hold on Charles, I think she's onto something," Erik disagreed, raising his index finger up. "No one is even paying attention to them," Erik pointed out.

"I'll never not be amazed with my powers," I stated, looking around at people going about their day not noticing the fight happening in front of their eyes. "A little inducement of calmness works wonders," I mused, folding my arms together.

Within a blink of the eye, Aaron swung his fist out and it connected with Luke's face, sending him to the ground.

"Hell of a right hook," I observed, as Aaron got on top of Luke to continue his pummeling.

"Claudia!"

"You know Erik, I once made a man punch himself," I informed, glancing over at him. "One night I had this drunk customer screaming in my face, and I grew angry enough that I imagined punching him, and he somehow punched himself," I recounted, thinking back to my diner job as a teenager.

"Impressive," Erik chuckled.

"You should see what happens when I sing, with my power," I boasted, walking ahead a little bit to get a closer look at the two men on the ground.

I went to take another step forward, but hand held me back, keeping a tight hold onto my wrist. I looked back to see who the culprit was just as the wind gently ruffled my hair as I met the stern stare of a dreamy blue-eyed familiar face.

"Claudia, _stop it_ ," Charles demanded, his voice dropping an octave.

Sighing, I finally gave in, "Fine," I agreed, turning my head back to the men and restored their peaceful state of mind.

Charles glanced at Erik and I for a moment, and we all share a look.

"Let's go," Charles ordered.

~~~x~~~

"Hey, do you know what's wrong with Charles?" Raven asked, as she pushed the barbell up and back onto the rack. "He's been upset ever since we came back from the park," Raven stated, maneuvering her way from under the bar and sitting up.

I paused mid crunch and relaxed, looking between my legs to look at Raven, "Yes," I answered, sitting up and hugging my knees. "I'm the reason he's upset," I confessed, and Raven's eyes widened. "I did something that made Charles quite mad," I explained, pushing away the fly-away hairs escaping my bun.

Raven crossed her arms and wandered over to me, "Claudia Walker making Charles Xavier mad, I never thought that I'd see the day," Raven remarked, before sticking her hand out to help me up.

"Neither did I," I stated, shaking my head.

"I wouldn't worry, Charles can't stay mad at you. He likes you too much," Raven reminded with a giggle, as I grabbed her hand and she pulled me up.

The sudden motion made me feel dizzy, I slowly walked over to the towel basket and plucked one out, "I don't know Raven, he seemed pretty upset," I doubted, dabbing the cloth against my face and closed my eyes trying to stabilize myself.

"What did you do?" Raven asked curiously.

Opening my eyes as my vision had stopped spinning, I removed the towel from my face, "I made these two men fight for entertainment," I explained, shrugging my shoulders. "Erik and I wanted entertainment, we had gotten bored at the park," I continued, beginning to leave the room. "Do you know where I can Charles? I should probably go make things right," I added.

"In the library, most likely. Where else would he be?" Raven joked, and I nodded my head in agreement and laughed before exiting the gym.

I wrapped the towel around my neck and made way down the hall admiring the paintings on the wall as I headed to the library. The door to the library was cracked, slowly pushing it open revealed Charles standing in front of the window. I walked quietly into the room and he didn't turn around, he simply waited for whoever had entered to speak first. Out of the corner of Charles' eye he saw me move to stand beside him, still not saying a word.

At last, I broke the silence, "It's clear that you're upset with me," I began, searching his face for a reaction, but there wasn't one.

"How about disappointed?" Charles corrected, still looking out the window. I turned to look at him again and I was surprised to find his face free of anger, his face was calm. "You could have seriously injured those men Claudia. Worst, you could have killed them," Charles stated grimly, staring at me.

Backing away from where Charles stood, I sat down on top of the sofa, "Oh, come on, I wouldn't have let it get to that point," I answered, crossing my arms and returning Charles' stare.

Charles turned all the way around to face me, "It should have never happened in the first place!" Charles argued, slightly raising his voice. "Why on God's green earth would make those men fight?" Charles questioned, throwing his hands up.

"For fun, I suppose," I answered, with a slight shrug.

Charles scoffed, "That's your definition of _fun_? he asked incredulously.

"Fun is interpreted differently from person to person," I countered.

"No, I don't believe that's the whole story. I have never seen use your powers so irresponsibly. What is going on with you?" Charles asked again, walking towards me.

I pushed off the sofa, "You have been mother henning me for two days straight and I'm at my wits end here! I needed a release!" I snapped, spreading my arms out. "I'm not myself for one day, and for two days you have constantly been over my shoulder like I'm some fragile-" I continued pointing my finger, until another wave of dizziness me, this time stronger than before.

I felt myself falling as my vision slightly darkened, but a pair of arms caught me before I fell to the floor.

"Hey, I got you, I got you," Charles repeated softly, my head leaning against his chest. He lowered us to the ground slowly, "I'm going to pick you up, alright," Charles announced, before hooking his arms underneath my legs and slowly lifting me up. He walked over to the front of the sofa and placed me down onto the plush cushions. "Good thing I've been a mother hen, right?" Charles asked smiling, his hand brushing away a stray lock of hair from my face.

"I guess it paid off in the end," I conceded, smiling weakly as Charles sat on the edge of the sofa.

Charles placed the back of his hand against my forehead and frowned, "Claudia, you're burning up," he noted, removing his hand. "I knew you were pushing yourself too hard these past two days," Charles continued, placing each of his hands down on the cushions on either side of my waist. "Why didn't you tell me, love?" Charles asked quietly.

Charles was tense, his hands were clenched into fist by my side, I lifted my arm and soothingly rubbed his arm and felt the muscles in his arm slowly release some of their tension. His blue eyes met mine and he relaxed a little more.

"I thought I could push through it, I've done it before," I explained, giving him a small smile in an attempt to make him feel more at ease. "I really didn't want you to start smothering me anymore," I added, a short laugh erupting from me.

Charles shook his head gazing down at me with worried eyes, "Yes, and look where it's gotten you right now," Charles remarked, shaking his head once more. "You are so guarded at times Claudia, you've got to learn that not everyone wants to hurt you. I want to help you, I truly do. But I can't do anything unless you can accept that," Charles stated.

I was shocked by his bluntness and stared at him in shock, being quiet for several moments and looking away. When I didn't answer, Charles reached for my hand and held my hand in his.

"Do you trust me Claudia?" Charles asked softly.

It was such a simple question, yet I knew it meant a lot more to Charles...and myself. I stared up at him saw the genuine concern written across his features, and knew that what he told me was true.

"You're the first person I have trusted in years, Charles," I admitted softly.

The telepath gave me the most adorable, beautiful grin of relief, "I'm honored," Charles answered, and lifted my hand to his lips and kissed the palm of it. The simple gesture made my stomach flip. "Let's get you some rest, yeah?" Charles suggested, nodding his head toward the door.

* * *

 _ **AN: Hope you enjoyed it! You got to see a little bit of a dark side to Claudia, or just how dangerous she could be if she wanted to be.**_


	12. What is This Feeling?

_**AN: I'm back! Sorry for the wait, I had to decide how I wanted to do this chapter. I didn't know if I wanted to split it up or keep it how I originally wrote it. That being said it's a long chapter ahead. Also, I'll like to give a big thank you to everyone who has followed or liked the story!**_

* * *

The sun hung low in the sky, slowly sinking lower and lower, but it was still bright enough to see my surroundings clearly.

"But Charles you promised," I whined, giving a slight pouting expression.

"See, now you're putting words in my mouth Claudia," Charles laughed, glancing at me. "I said _maybe_ you could train," Charles pointed out, before focusing back on the scenery around us.

The two of us were walking on the path that went around the mansion, into the woods, and back around. I looped my arm with his and leaned my head against shoulder and smiling into it.

"Are we playing semantics now?" I asked, lifting my head slightly to face Charles with a grin on my face.

Charles chuckled and looked down at me, "No, I'm not playing semantics," Charles assured, before chuckling again. "One more day, I promise, okay?" Charles asked, as we walked through the front doors of the mansion, before closing them behind us. He stared at me expectantly, since I didn't answer him immediately because I was trying figure out if I could last that long. "Claudia?" Charles called, as he gently lifted my head up to look at him.

"Fine," I conceded, holding my palms up in mock surrender.

"Wonderful!" Charles cheered, before placing a kiss on the top of my head. "Now enjoy the rest of your evening by _resting_ and _relaxing_ ," Charles ordered playfully, slowly moving away from me.

"Wait!" I called, grabbing onto Charles' hand and pulling back towards me. "It better be only one day or suffer the consequences," I threatened, a smile creeping on my lips.

Charles let out a short laugh, "Hmm, yes, I was afraid you might say that," Charles chuckled, as he smiled at me.

"Just so we're clear," I said, still smiling and leaned up, placing a kiss on his cheek before leaving the foyer.

I climbed up the stairs and walked into my room, closing the door behind me. I looked to the left of me where my vanity dresser was located, resting on top of it was a stunning record player in a smooth, cherry wood box. Charles was kind enough to bring it to my room after I fell ill. A smile began to form on my face as I thought about the best way to spend my evening of relaxing. I moved over to dresser and started searching through the crate of Charles' collection of vinyl records that I had asked for. They were all mostly blues and jazz. I pulled out 'Dinah Washington Sings Bessie Smith' and placed it on the spindle, set the needle at the edge and adjusted the volume before I shut the lid.

The music drifted out a slow bluesy riff as I made my way over to my bathroom swaying my hips lightly to the music. I made my to the bathtub and switched the water onto hot before carefully examining the selection of bubble baths and salts Raven had given me, and choosing a scent that suited my mood. Leaving the water running to fill up the tub, I shifted over to the cabinets inside the bathroom and pulled them open. My eyes immediately spotted what I wanted, candles, they were the perfect complement to my bubble bath in creating a relaxing atmosphere. Using the lighter also stored in the cabinet I lit each candle, strategically placing them around the bathroom.

I turned back around to check on my bath. The water was just the right temperature, hot enough to soothe my muscles but not enough to burn or scorch. I poured in the bath salts first, then added the dark purple bubble bath as the running water continued gushing out of the nozzle. Bubbles came to life in the large tub, multiplying at a quick rate. Quickly shuffling back into my room I pulled my closet doors open, using my foot to bring out my laundry basket and undressed myself, dropping each article of clothing in the basket. I slipped on my silk robe and returned to the bathroom and shut off the water just as it filled the tub to the brim.

I stared at my reflection large mirror that stretched over the sink, the large piece of glass covering the entire top half of the wall. I tilted my face in various directions looking at the bruising on my face. It didn't look as particularly bad as I had expected, the bruises had faded considerably to a greenish yellow hue. Glancing back at the tub, I suddenly couldn't remember the last time I had indulged in one myself. I shrugged my robe off and tossed it on top of the closed lid of the toilet before slowly stepping into the water, submerging the majority of my body into the bath tub and absorbed the heat.

The bath was full, steamy, and covered in bubble bath as candles flickered all around. My head resting against a towel folded on the edge of the tub's backrest. I could already feel my muscles unwinding with the assistance of the bath salts. A pleasant fog softening the edges of my mind. God, this bath felt so good. I closed my eyes and settled deeper into the water listening as Dinah Washington's soulful, sleek voice came from the record player in my bedroom.

 _"Judge your honor, hear my plea before you open up your court. I don't want no sympathy 'cause I just cut my good man's throat,"_ I sang, waving my hand along with the horn blaring through the record.

I continued humming, smiling to myself at the lyrics, _"Judge, judge, please mister judge. Send me to the 'lectric chair._ _Judge, judge, good mister judge. Let me go away from here,"_ my smile grew wider when I felt tinge of flusteredness, from someone entering the bathroom.

"Relaxed, are we?" Erik's accented voice asked.

I opened my eyes to see Erik leaning against the sink watching me closely, his expression was calm but I could see hints of pink in his cheeks that he was slightly embarrassed that he walked in on me nude.

"Quite actually," I answered grinning, pleased with myself.

"I didn't know you sing. You have a lovely voice," Erik complimented.

"So lovely that you couldn't distinguish me from Dinah," I joked, lifting my head proudly.

Erik let out a snort, "Please, don't flatter yourself," Erik mocked.

"Ouch," I deadpanned, momentarily placing my hand on my heart. I pushed myself up from my slouched position, the movement sending the water rippling against wall of the tub. "Tell me Erik, why did you come into my room? You clearly saw that my bedroom door was closed, but you came in anyways," I stated, sitting up slightly and Erik's eyes dipped to where my breasts would be, but the bubbles were covering them. I arched my brow and he flushed looking away quickly, rubbing the back of his neck. "I'm to curious to know what was so urgent that you ignored not one, but _two_ doors and interrupted my bath?" I questioned grinning, rolling over slightly and rested my arms on the side of the tub.

Erik pushed off the sink and walked towards me and sat down on the edge of the tub, "You know most women, would scream for me to leave," Erik pointed out.

"I'm not most women, Erik," I remarked, facing my body forward again. "Now stop deflecting," I added, looking up at him.

"I was curious about you and Charles," Erik began.

I moved a damp strand of hair out of my face, "What about me and Charles?" I repeated, my voice now taking on a playful tone.

"Don't be coy Claudia, you know what I'm talking about," Erik retorted, a slight scowl forming on his face. "You two have been very affectionate with each other since we got to the mansion. Are you two a thing now?" Erik asked curiously.

I threw my hand up to cover my mouth as I laughed and drops of water landed on Erik, "Are we a _thing_? What are we in high school?" I mocked, staring at him incredulously.

"Answer the question Claudia,"

"No," I answered, shaking my head. "No, I wouldn't say we're in a relationship, more like we're mutually flirtatious with each other," I explained, a sly smile appeared on my face. "Why do you want to know? Are you _jealous_ , Erik?" I questioned, grinning like the Cheshire cat. Erik opened his mouth to answer my question, but I cut him off. "And don't lie, I will know if you do," I warned. "Just ask Charles," I added, my grin growing even wider.

"No," Erik answered flatly. "I'm not jealous, Claudia. Just curious," Erik finished, rolling his eyes.

"I'll take your word for it," I replied vaguely with a smirk. "But answer this question Erik," I continued, and without thinking I slowly lifted my right leg from the soapy water and placed it on his slack covered legs. My mind began to race as to what had possessed me to do such a thing. "Do you find me attractive, Erik?" I asked, after my provocative gesture.

My heart thumped loudly in my ears as I tried to decipher what Erik's reaction would be to my gesture. Quite frankly, I'm still not sure what had taken over me at that moment. Until one thought crossed my mind that was a possible explanation of my behavior.

Was it possible...? Did I... _like_ him?

Wait, there it was again. That word like. God, I was starting to get annoyed by it. Raven saying it or implying it, and now me thinking it. I shuddered at the thought. Erik was smart. He was funny, always matching my quick wit. I can't deny that I like being in his company, or that he was good looking. Who am I kidding, heaven knows the man was handsome and with his aura of seeming dangerous and mysterious was just the cherry on top. But I couldn't like him. It was _Erik._ We were friends and that was it, the two of us we just bantered to purposely annoy each other.

Erik seemed completely engrossed by me, he sat there stoic for at ten least seconds and I expected the worst. Either Erik would walk away, a sign that I have forever ruined our friendship or worse cruelly mock me.

But in a surprising turn of events his stoic expression turned into dare I say it, _lust_. Hardly taking his eyes off of me, he rolled up his sleeves and he reached soft sea sponge resting on the edge of the tub and submerged the sponge in the warm bathwater. He lifted the sponge from the water, squeezing excess water out before dragging the sponge up my leg, his touches were soft and slow. His hand traveled up my thigh, the way he looked at me was hot and intense.

My chin dipped towards my chest, as another sly smile curved on my lips and I beckoned Erik closer with a sensual curl of my finger and wolfish grin claimed his features. Erik gently placed my leg back in the tub along with the sponge and moved closer to me, lowering his head. We stare into each other's eyes, our breaths mingling as our faces draw closer.

"Erik," I whispered, just before Erik was about to close the distance between our lips entirely. "Get out,"

"What?" Erik questioned, a bewildered expression appearing on his face. "Why?" he asked again.

I leaned back into my original position, placing my head back onto my towel, "I don't like liars," I answered, the barest hint of a smile on my lips.

~~~x~~~

Breakfast had ended twenty minutes ago and had just come back down from changing into my day clothes. Stretching my arms out in front of me I approached one of the many sitting rooms in the mansion, only to hear voices inside. I was planning on walking straight past, but hearing my name from Alex's mouth caused me to freeze.

"Do you know what's going on between Claudia and Erik?" Alex quizzed, as I silently took a step closer and looked through the crack of the door.

"No," the second voice answered which belonged to our resident ginger. "Should I?" Sean asked, confusion laced in his question.

"Did you see how Erik looked at her at breakfast? It was disgusting and weird," Alex commented, shaking his in disgust.

"What do you mean?"

"It's like he was fucking her with his eyes. His eyes rarely left her at breakfast, they followed her as she walked out the kitchen. Even Moria and Raven have noticed. I heard them talking about it," Alex explained, turning his attention back to Sean.

"But I thought Claudia was totally into the Professor and vice versa," Sean pointed out.

That was it.

I pushed open the door, making the two boys turn to me in shock, "What's got you two so jumpy and scared?" I questioned, looking between the two of them even though I already knew why. The two boys looked at each other in worry. "Chop, chop! You two are supposed to be training," I stated, motioning them out of the room.

Alex and Sean scrambled out of the room and passed me, I let them walk a couple steps before I stuck my hands out and clenched my fists and an aura trapped their feet into one place. The two boys looked at each other in worry and then at me. They wanted nothing more than to run, but there was nowhere to run.

"And boys," I called, my voice calm. "I think it would be in your best interest to never speculate on my love life," I suggested, but it was more of a thinly veiled threat. "Are we clear?" I asked, cocking my head to the side and they vehemently nodded yes. "Good," I concluded, releasing my hold and walked away to the direction I originally came from.

"Well, she's a good match for Erik, that's for sure," Alex said before his body convulsed in pain.

I had heard him.

It was incredibly quiet in the hallways for it to be daytime, that was until I heard footsteps bounding behind. I whirled around only to see Charles, in a dark blue long sleeve polo that matched his eyes and grey slacks.

"Claudia, just the woman I'm looking for," Charles greeted happily. "This is actually Claudia right, and not Raven, right?" Charles queried, scanning me over.

I quirked an eyebrow, "Yes, you're speaking to Claudia," I answered chuckling.

"Oh good! Raven has been walking about the mansion mimicking everyone's appearances," Charles explained, scratching his head. "She walked around as you when you were still in your bedroom after breakfast," Charles added.

"And tell me, could you tell that it was really me or her?" I asked curiously, clasping my hands together. "Was she able to imitate my mannerisms with perfection?" I questioned, my head titling slightly.

"No, not by a long shot," Charles chuckled, sticking his hand for me to walk with him. "When I called your name she looked like a deer in headlights, I'll give her credit she attempted to do that little smirk you do, but it just wasn't the same. Also, her wit was as sharp as yours," Charles continued, staring at me.

"And how I do know that I'm not talking to Raven right now?" I challenged.

Charles placed his hand on my lower back, "Because Raven doesn't have a pair of magic, telepathic hands that would be willing to massage your feet," Charles beamed down at me, and I laughed. "But on a more serious note, Claudia," Charles began, he became serious and my laughter quieted. "There's something I've been meaning to speak to you about something," Why did it feel like I was in trouble. "I have noticed something that you've been struggling with in terms of your powers,"

I wasn't going to give in that easily, "Pray tell, what have I been struggling with?"

"Temptation. Boredom. You like to give into your abilities just for the fun of it. You can't do that Claudia," Charles lectured, still maintaining his earnest expression.

"I know that! What I did in at the park was bad, I'll admit that. But that was minor," I disputed, crossing my arms.

" _Minor_?" Charles repeated, cocking his eyebrow up. "Claudia, you could've started a brawl," Charles recounted, his lips forming a thin line.

"But I didn't," I pointed out, raising my finger up. "I had everything under control, only two people were fighting and no one else got hurt," I added, this time sticking my hand out. "Where are you going with this Charles? That because I caused one little fight I'm going to become the female version of Shaw!" I accused, placing my hands on my hips.

"No. But if you're not careful you could be-" Charles explained gently.

"I didn't know you had such a low opinion of me Charles," I interjected, with a scoff. "You think I'm a danger to the world because of my abilities," I commented, a humorless laugh escaping from me. "You're just like everyone else," I grunted, folding my arms together against my chest.

Charles stepped in front of me, "No not at all," Charles shaking his head and placing both of his hands on my hips. "What I'm saying is you need a purpose. You have a purpose now, but don't let you're boredom get the best of you. You're capable of so much," Charles softly tugged my hand from my chest with little resistance on my part and kissed the back of it. "I'm sorry that I offended you, that was not my intention, love," Charles apologized, pressing his soft lips to my hand again.

Charles thinks I needed a purpose. It sounded so simple, yet the only problem was I didn't know what it was _I_ wanted.

Erik appeared out of nowhere from behind Charles, "Charles, Hank's looking for you," he announced.

"Thank you, Erik," Charles said looking over his shoulder, before he turned back to me. "I'm afraid we'll have to pick this up some other time," Charles offered me a quick smile and let go of my hand, walking off to Hank's lab leaving Erik and I alone in the hallway.

I caught Erik's eye and had the vague suspicion that he had over heard Charles and I.

"Erik," I greeted calmly.

"Claudia," Erik greeted back coolly.

Then quiet fell between us, we were only a few feet away from each other, but it felt like we were yards apart. The man in front of me stood silently, his eyes narrowed as he studied me and I just lowered my brow.

"You overheard me and Charles, didn't you?" I asked bluntly, my voice cutting through the tense atmosphere.

"Yes," he answered simply. "But for what it's worth, you did show an extraordinary amount of control," Erik added, taking a step closer to me.

"What did you make of what Charles said?" I questioned.

"He's right, you do need a purpose," Erik concurred.

"And what do you suggest I do?"

"Fight," Erik answered, He simply shrugging his shoulders. "Humans will _never_ accept us, you know that," Erik continued. "Once they find out what we're capable of...well there's no telling what they might do..." Erik trailed off forebodingly.

I looked at Erik suspiciously, of course there will be negative reactions once the world knows that we exist, but I felt there was an underlying message in Erik's statement.

 _"But why would he say this to me? He wouldn't have said this to Charles because he knows, he knows Charles would never agree with that sentiment. But he thinks I will. It almost sounded like he was trying to recruit me, this time it being for a different cause. What does he need me for?" I thought._

Questions raced through my mind each one analyzing his sudden call to arms. If I learned anything from my life experience it was trust no one but yourself.

I furrowed my eyebrows, "So, what do you want?" I questioned, folding my arms together again.

"What makes you think I want something?"

"Everybody wants something from each other," I retorted, slightly chuckling. "And I have to say Erik, I'm impressed with your methods," I complimented, lifting my index finger up.

Erik looked at me curiously, "I haven't done anything," Erik stated.

"Oh, but you have," I insisted, nodding my head. "Telling everyone to avenge Darwin, to avenge me. You were using the memory of Darwin to get what you wanted. A way at Shaw. You, trying to boost Raven's self-esteem, you're only doing that because you want something from her, her abilities. I should have known that gesture wasn't from your heart," I commented, a mirthless smile now on my lips. "You can stop with your subtle hints or your little flatteries of my abilities, because they are not going to work on me. Stop trying to manipulate me, it won't work," I warned, my voice dropping lower with each word.

"Ohhhh, that is so _rich_ coming from you, Claudia," Erik chuckled, throwing his head back. "If your memory is failing you then need I remind what you did yesterday?" Erik hinted, moving closer to me. "You manipulated me yesterday," Erik reminded.

I scoffed, "Manipulate? You think I manipulated you? Erik everything you did yesterday was by your own free will. No powers needed," I remarked, stabbing my finger into his chest. "All I did was ask you simple questions and all you had to was answer," I continued, looking up at him.

Erik grey-blue gaze stared unwaveringly at me, "Having your bare leg in my lap, was a bit more than asking a simple question," Erik responded, inching closer to me and I stepped back only for my body to hit the wall.

"So, what you decide the best way to answer is to try and kiss me?" I gibed, throwing my hands up.

"I certainly didn't see you pull away either," Erik reminded, as I bit down on my lip. He gave me a once over with his eyes, raising a brow. "Do you seem to recall that Claudia? Because I do," Erik stated, wrinkles forming on his forehead.

"I was playing a game," I began. "No one said you had to play along," I ended coldly.

That last bit stung, I knew it would, but Erik quickly hid the hurt look that must have flashed across his face. I don't know what made me say such a cutting remark to Erik. Maybe it was my defense mechanism kicking in, trying to push him away from me. But that couldn't be it, just look how I am with Charles. Maybe it's me doing everything possible to deny that I indeed had feelings for Erik.

Glaring at me Erik slowly drew back from me and the grandfather clock in the hallway ticked away and made the silence between us deafening. With a sudden chime of the clock, I came back to reality.

"I didn't have to manipulate you for your reaction. So, don't manipulate me," I warned my voice low, and walked away from Erik until I felt his hand grip my bicep and pull me back making back hit the wall with a soft thud.

"You think I'm trying to manipulate you, I'm not. I'm trying to open your eyes," Erik stated firmly.

"I have 20/20 vision Erik, I can see just fine," I sassed, brushing past him.

~~~x~~~

Still slightly shaken from my encounter with Erik, I walked up beside Charles in Hank's Lab, determined to get my mind off the attractive metal bender. He affected me more than I'd have cared to admit. Sean glanced at the black and yellow wings on his back nervously. He turned back to Hank, the mistrust and nervousness were apparent in his eyes.

"And you're sure that this will work?" Sean asked skeptically, holding his arms out as Charles and Hank fastened the contraption that Hank had made.

"Anything's possible," Hank answered with his signature line, clearly not noticing the look of increasing panic appearing on Sean. Hank continued talking, regardless. "I based the design-"

Charles noticed the look of increasing panic on Sean's face, "Hank, stop talking," Charles commanded, as he finished securing Sean and gave him an encouraging pat on the back. "Come on," Charles said, leading Sean to the windowsill.

Sean trudged along with Charles and Hank as they made their way to the window until he jolted back like something frightened him.

"I trusted Hank with something far more serious than this. You'll be fine," Raven's reassuring voice stated, sliding the window open.

 _"Was she always here?" I thought._

Just then I heard two sets of footsteps walk into the lab and I looked over my shoulder to see Alex and Erik. I knew he could feel me staring at him, but Erik didn't acknowledge my presence, which was fine with me.

Sean swallowed nervously as he sat on the ledge, looking down at the green hedge below,"Promise me one thing," Sean began, swallowing nervously again. "When I die jumping out of this window, you gotta bury me in this," Sean requested.

"Pull yourself together, it's only one story," Charles stated, looking down at the ground before returning his gaze to Sean.

"I can still break an ankle or something," Sean pointed out.

"Yes you could," Charles agreed quickly moving on. "Now, remember. Scream as hard as you can," Charles explained.

"You need the sound waves to be supersonic. Catch them at the right angle and they should carry you," Hank added to Charles's explanation.

"They _should_ carry me. That's reassuring," Sean breathed out sarcastically.

"Good luck and don't forget to scream," Charles reminded him, patting his back.

Hank and Charles moved away from the window. Sean looked to the rest of us. We gave him a thumbs up. He took a deep breath and then spread his arms and leaned off of the windowsill only to let out a pitiful scream and face plant into the bushes. I laughed and could both hear and feel the laughter coming from the people around me, meanwhile Charles looked worried and Hank looked disappointed and ashamed.

"You're alright," Charles stated, ducking his head back inside.

"Lovely," I snickered, as everyone jogged out the room to go see if Sean was okay.

I began walking out of the room myself just as I heard footsteps behind me, making me turn around seeing it was Charles.

"Are you okay?" He asked as me as we entered the hallway and I tilted my head slightly.

"I'm perfect," I answered shortly, and he frowned a bit.

"See, when someone says that it usually means the opposite," Charles pointed out playfully.

I moved further away from Hank's lab and Charles, "Maybe it's because your comment earlier Charles," I reminded, not bothering to wait for Charles.

"Claudia," Charles called, but I didn't turn around. Charles began to mumble something under his breath as I turned the corner. "Claudia wait!" Charles called again, this time jogging after me. Suddenly, I felt two warm hands around my waist and gently push me into the wall, a recurring theme today. "Claudia, I'm sorry for what I said earlier," Charles apologized sincerely, trying to catch my gaze, but I averted my eyes from him.

"You truly think I could become a monster?" I asked sadly, finally meeting his gaze. "I am not Shaw Charles, I am not the telepath that invaded my thoughts and forced me to build a barrier to protect myself," I protested softly.

"I know that, and I should've never doubted you. I'm sorry," Charles apologized once more. "It's just that empaths are very unique Claudia, we both know you have far more power than you realize," Charles began, dropping his hands from my hips and enclosing them with my own. "You can sense emotions, whether someone hides them or not. People's emotions can tell you a lot about them. And if you use that knowledge for evil, instead of good, you can do a lot of damage," Charles explained his voice low. "You are an amazing woman Claudia, your powers are only dangerous if _you_ allow them to be," Charles continued, looking at me expectantly. "Do you understand now, why I was concerned?" Charles inquired, his thumb running across my knuckles.

I understood what he was saying crystal clear, it doesn't matter if you can fly, generate plasma blasts, or even make metal bend to your will, if you mess with people's emotions, things can get ugly _._

"Yes, I do," I smiled, finally something good has come of these powers of mine.

~~~x~~~

 _My dreams were vivid, burning images that rose up in my mind and threatened to drown me. I could see them as if they were real, could feel the pain anew with each wound inflicted. First, I felt my self suffocating and thrashing in my childhood bed as something was forcefully being held down over my face. There was a shriek of terror from above that came from Mama and the pillow on my face was removed revealing my would be murderer to be Grandmother. In a flash, they were replaced by the sneering teenage boys who loomed above me, their hands roaming every inch of her body and I was once again helpless against them. When they faded away into darkness, into the face of the man who was the cause of all my agony, I let out a ragged cry, sobbing when he began to run at me his body slamming into mine The two of us fell to the cold, hard floor I emitted a loud scream._

 _I struggled with all my might, however he was twice my size and had three times my strength. I pounded my fists into his chest. Just as I was about to reach for his face, he grabbed my wrists and forced them down to the sides of my face. I looked up at his dark brown eyes._

 _"P-p-please, let me go," I whispered, looking at him with pleading eyes._

 _A sigh escaped him and his shoulders slumped, he shook his head and began tsk'ing._

 _"Now Claudia, you know I can't do that," he answered, laughing menacingly above me.  
_

I awoke with a strangled sob, fumbling in the dark for the switch to the lamp beside my bed. I flicked it on, gasping for air against the crushing weight that pressed my chest. However, the soft light did nothing to calm my nerves, rather doing the opposite. The reaches of the light only extended so far into the room, casting the rest into darkened shadow.

Pressing a fist against my mouth did nothing to stifle the terrified whimpers that threatened to spill into the night, and I went as far as to bite down on my knuckles in an attempt to quiet myself. Still, I could not stop myself from seeing those images in the darkness. Imagining _him_ , lurking in the darkest corners of the room; someone else, stealing me in the night to bring me back to that place of grief and hate.

 _NO._

With a single shriek of terror, I threw the covers away from my legs, swinging over the side of the bed and onto the floor. I frantically pulled the drawer out and a rattling bottle rolled to the front. I grabbed it, my hands shook as I unscrewed the lid, and I watched as the pills bounce with every tremor. Two capsules spilled out into my palm and I tossed them back and with a swig of water, they're gone. I capped the bottle and set it back in the drawer.

I found my hands wound into my wrapped hair knocking the bobby pins out, nails digging into the skin of my scalp as I tried to convince myself that my imagination was just running away from me. The words formed a chant in my mind, but it did nothing to quell the fear building up in my stomach.

 _"It isn't real, it isn't real, IT ISN'T REAL!" I thought.  
_

I stumbled ungracefully several steps before righting myself, I slipped on my flats and robe and ran to the door and throwing it open and quickly made my down the stairs and to the front door of the mansion. Gulping in the cold air that hit my face I tried to calm myself down, then ran a hand through my hair and blinked at my surroundings. Only the moon illuminated the perfectly still mansion grounds, not a sound or movement breaking the flawlessness of the moment. My attention turned the woods that surrounded the mansion, deciding to walk and follow the edge of the woods to regain my sense of calmness.

That seemed to be the best decision because after a little while I stumbled upon a blackberry patch that didn't seem like it had been tended to in years. Weeds ran rampant and thorns outnumbered the blackberries, but they were ripe. Tearing my eyes away from the ground I let my eyes flutter shut as a gust of wind howled through the trees, blowing my hair behind me. I stood there happily for several minutes until something made my eyes snap open and stare at the woods.

 _Something's wrong._

Nothing happened. _Maybe it's nothing._ But whatever 'nothing' was, it made the hair on the back of my neck stand up. I edged cautiously out of the blackberry path and made a break toward the woods and hid behind a tree.

 _"I'm overreacting_ ," _I thought._

Still, I didn't move an inch from my spot as my mind raced with possibilities of what could be watching me.

"Found you!" I screamed and tumbled to the ground, my hands catching me, but ripping my dress in the process. Erik leaned against the tree, looking triumphant in his leather jacket and a grin, as I crouched in the dirt, my breath coming out of me in quick, sharp bursts. _..Or Erik._ He was almost worse than the other options that was going through my head. Erik's grin faded the longer he looked at me until a somber expression covered his face.

"Here," He offered me his hand and I looked at him in confusion, he snuck behind me and frightened me, why was he being kind now? Suddenly, I realized how I must look at that moment, my eyes rimmed red from crying and my nightgown covered in dirt and berry juice as I futilely hid from him. I must've looked like a scared child. "Well?" He demanded, irritation leaking into his voice. I started, unaware that I hadn't answered or moved. I took his hand and allowed him to help me stand.

"Thank you," I muttered, avoiding eye contact.

"Why are you out here?" Erik asked. I looked up at him in confusion. Why was he even out here this late?

"...I just needed some air," I answered, divulging the least I could. "What about you?" I asked, looking over at him.

"I heard your door slam open, it woke me up," Erik began, meeting my eyes. "I barely had enough time to open my door to see your figure scurrying down the stairs and out the mansion," Erik explained. "What had you so spooked?" Erik asked curiously, cocking his head to the side.

"Just a nightmare, is all," I answered shrugging, and fastening the belt to my robe.

"Must be some nightmare if it sent you running out the mansion," Erik commented, arching his eyebrow and crossing him arms clearly not believing that it was just a nightmare. "It wasn't an ordinary nightmare," Erik added, it is not a question, it is a statement.

"You're right, but it was one of my milder nightmares that I have," I admitted, stuffing my hands into my pockets. "It's nothing a bottle of pills can't fix," I stated lowly, breaking eye contact with Erik.

Erik lightly grasped my chin reconnecting our eyes, "Now why does Ms. Perfect have extraordinary nightmares? Why does she need pills to calm her nerves?" Erik questioned, almost mockingly.

I yanked my hand out my pocket and shove his hand off my chin, "Yeah, go ahead and mock me Erik. I'm sorry that I can't be as stoic as you!" I snapped, turning my back to him to hide the hurt in my eyes.

"That was not my intention, Claudia, my apologies," Erik apologized softly, I heard him move toward me until I felt his chest on my back. "I'm generally curious as to why you're taking pills," Erik stated, his lips ghosting over my ear.

"Because...I'm afraid to lose control. And I'd rather not lose control," I half admitted with a sigh.

"That's not the whole truth. And I don't need to be telepathic to know that," Erik pointed out. "Besides Charles, you keep yourself pretty composed," Erik added.

I slowly turned my body to face him again and rather his usual stoic expression his features were softened, "I mean the nightmares are one thing, but losing control of my powers...I'm...I'm afraid to hurt innocent people around me. It was out of control once, but I've managed to keep them in check," I explained as I lowered my gaze from Erik and to the soil beneath us instead. "I am danger to the public when I'm not in control," I mumbled.

"You would be considered a danger to the public even when your in control," Erik retorted softly.

"True, but at least I would have the capability to not unleash my powers to their true extent, especially my empathic powers," I explained, bringing gaze back to Erik's who never stopped staring at me.

"Why are you holding yourself back Claudia?" Erik inquired. "You were born with an incredible gift, why limit yourself?" Erik asked again.

"When I was child my parents had told me never to use my powers, that it was bad," I began, letting out a chuckle. "As you can see, I did not follow their advice at all, but today with Charles...he truly wants the best for me. He just concerned that with my abilities that I could become dangerous if I choose to allow myself go down that path," I explained, slightly shrugging my shoulders.

"Doesn't seem like he holds high opinion of you," Erik reckoned.

"He does, really. And I understand his hesitation. There are days Erik when I want to use my powers to their fullest extent, but I don't because it's wrong," I said, my thumbs running up and down my arms. "You witnessed what I could do at the park, and that was me barely using my abilities," I mentioned. "I could have started a brawl if I really wanted to, just like how Charles feared," I admitted, nodding my head.

"So, you're just going to keep limiting yourself because people tell you to?" Erik challenged.

"Why does it matter to you Erik? You just want me to do the exact opposite," I remarked, throwing one arm up.

"You're right, I do. Keeping all your power bottled up inside of you cannot be healthy," Erik suggested.

"Perhaps...but for now I'll keep them in check," I responded, beginning to walk past him but came to a halt. There was something I needed to make right between us. "Hey, Erik," I called, turning my body back around and facing him. "I'm sorry about earlier today, I was being a bitch and I shouldn't have said the things I did," I apologized sincerely, walking up to him. I stood on my tip toes placing a gently kiss to Erik's cheek that smelled faintly of aftershave. "Please forgive me," I added softly.

After pulling back from his cheek the two of us shared a lingering gaze and I offered a halfhearted smile before I pivoted on my feet and headed back towards the mansion and to my room not even looking back.

* * *

 _ **AN: Alrighty, I hope you enjoyed this extremely long chapter!**_


	13. The Ballad of Claudia Walker

_**AN: Thank you to everyone who has followed this story, I'm glad that you all are enjoying it! Also, I just want to give a warning that this chapter has racist language and period-typical racism.**_

* * *

After the silent establishment between Erik and I on not discussing our night time conversation or the bathtub incident, things went back to normal between us. Well normal for _us_. I continued to find new ways to sass Erik and he still pretended I annoyed him. It was childish but fun. Pretty soon, the days turned into routine, days turning into a week, and then some. In fact, the dates would have blurred if it weren't for the constant announcements from the radio and the television. The routine was set and constant, running in the morning followed by physical training. After that, we went on with our individual training.

Today was no different, Charles had spent the day working on different tactics and ways of controlling the younger mutant abilities during their individual trainings with him. While I found myself entranced with the weight room. I had been dying to do something other than venture around. Something to waste time. I immediately went to the punching bag. I tied up my hair, wrapped my knuckles and feet, then got into my stance.

I closed my brown eyes, letting my surroundings fade, letting only the serene feeling of it just being me and the punching bag. I first just worked slowly on popping out each hand, as it carefully, but swiftly, hit the air. I did this for a minute, until I felt my hands were ready, and I began to move on to the bag. My left hand shot out, striking the bag with a fist, I was about to hit with my right as my fist threw forward, and connected with thin air. Dumbfounded, I opened my eyes in shock, and saw the bag levitating over my head. I whirled around, and found Erik with his brows raised at me.

"Give me back the bag," was my only demand.

"I think I might just leave it here," He snickered softly.

I pinched the brim of my nose, "Erik, I hope there's a reason for you coming in here other than being an annoyance,"

"As a matter of fact I do," Erik replied, the bag dropping to the ground behind me, as he started to move closer to me. "I was hoping to find you here actually," Erik stated, with his hands in his pockets.

"Why?"

"I have a question," Erik began. "Could you look into my head and know what moves I'm about to use on you?"

"Maybe, I could predict your movement by reading your emotional pulses," I guessed, shrugging my shoulders.

"How easy would it be to _not_ do it?" Erik asked curiously.

I looked at him confused, "What do you mean?"

"I mean, do you see other people's emotions naturally? Or would you be able to stop yourself seeing how I'm about to attack you?" Erik elaborated.

I thought about his question for a while. I have never put that much thought into reading emotional pulses during a fight, I was mainly focused on everyday emotions and feelings.

"I could stop it. Block you off, so to speak," I finally replied, and he nodded.

"Good, do that,"

"Is this round two from our last little spar?" I asked, a grin on my face and Erik rolled his eyes, but he mirrored my grin.

The two of us stood for a moment, I was unsure of what exactly to do next, until Erik suddenly launched his fist towards me. I barely managed to block him, but didn't catch the kick to my shins, causing me to stumble. Erik continued to push me back, I could tell he was noting each failed block and each successful attack that I landed. Breathing heavily, I stepped back slightly and used my legs to my advantage, lashing out with a powerful front kick, spinning on the ball of my foot with a roundhouse kick, and continued the spin for a back kick.

That's when I felt Erik's foot on my rear and he pushed me off balance. Falling forward, I rolled and came up with fire in my eyes – and saw his smirk.

"Oh Claudia, for all your talk you're still simply a pretty face, not a force to be reckoned with," he taunted.

He was playing with me, trying to get a rise out of me.

 _"Damn this man to Hell_ ," _I thought._

Narrowing my eyes at him, I hopped up to my feet and raised my hands into a fighting stance, pure determination on my face to wipe the smirk off his face. I just needed to knock him on his ass one good time. Erik's fist blurred in front of my eyes and I nimbly slipped past the punch. The advantage was mine now, with a bob in my stance I unleashed a series of punches. Erik grinned at me, seeming proud that he caused me to show visible signs of frustration on my face. I think Erik was much too happy about it and dropped his guard because my fist flew right into his right eye. He slumped down on the ground with his hand to his eye momentarily stunned by the force of the punch I'd thrown.

"Oh my God! Erik I'm so sorry!" I hurried down to his side taking his head into my hands. "Let me see it!" I insisted worry evident in my voice.

"I'm fine I swear!" Erik insisted taking his hand from his right eye.

"I'll be the judge of that thank you very much," I commented, placing my hand softly to his temple stroking his eye softly. "Does this hurt?" I asked, feeling guilty and worried, but also an inkling of gratification at the same time.

"No, but that doesn't you should stop," Erik answered cheekily with his eyes closed contently.

"Ugh, I can't believe you!" I exclaimed smiling, letting his head drop with a soft thud.

I stood up and slipped my sneakers back on walking out the gym. I shook my head at Erik's antics and I could hear him coming from behind me. An arm wrapped itself around my shoulder and I peered up at him with an eyebrow arched.

"You always hit harder when I insult you," Erik commented, a grin on his face. "I guess I know what I need to do now," he added, and I rolled my eyes.

I folded my arms together as we made our way down the hallway, "Why, so I can end up like you?" I asked, a smirk forming on my lips. "Always running head first into everything and almost getting yourself killed," I pointed out, looking up at him again. "Although, I will say you had one interesting technique earlier..." I trailed off.

"And what was that?"

I stood on my tiptoes and leaned into Erik, "When you kicked me...I felt that you wanted a _different_...body part...there instead," I whispered, drawing back from him.

Erik froze and laughter bubbled from my throat at Erik's face. His eyes were wide, a stunned expression played on his face as I watched his cheeks slightly flushed with red. I clasped my hands together in front of me, smiling wildly as I moved away from the stock-still body of Erik.

"Thanks for the training Erik!"

~~~x~~~

It was late in the afternoon, and it was finally my turn to fine tune my abilities.

"I know you hate the idea of doing this, but it's for your benefit Claudia," Charles began, holding my hand in his own and I furrowed my brow as to where this was going. "I need you to lower your barriers for me," Charles continued, making my eyes widened and nostrils flare.

"What!" I yelped, my breathing began to quicken, becoming very shallow. "No!" I exclaimed, shaking my head as I attempted to tug my hand away from Charles', but he kept a firm, yet gentle grip on it.

"Hey, hey, hey, don't be afraid. I've got you," he assured, rubbing his thumb over my knuckles. "It will be one quick test and then we'll be done, okay?" Charles asked, a soft smile on his as he gave my hand a small squeeze.

Charles looked at me waiting for my response, but I turned my head away from his gaze. Still breathing rapidly I clenched my eyes shut, remembering the last time I trusted someone with my barriers lowered. But this was _Charles._ Charles was kind. Sweet. The opposite of _him_. He'd never have any ill-intentions with me. I took a deep, shaky breath as I calmed myself down. Suddenly, I felt two soft hands cup my face and slowly opened my eyes to meet Charles' eyes. I could see the twinkle in his eye that would cause many women to simper.

"Claudia," He breathed, looking at me. "I would _never_ hurt you," Charles promised, using his thumbs to stroke my cheeks.

I opened my mouth to speak, but paused and looked down. I took another few deep breaths before looking up at him.

"One test?" I repeated softly.

Charles nodded, "You have my word," he stated.

I wrapped my arms around myself, slowly nodding my head, "Okay...I'll do it," I agreed, mustering up a weak smile.

Charles smiled as well, "You're going to be fine," he reassured, before planting his lips on top of my head.

Charles removed his hands from my face and backed away from me just as the sound of footsteps came to a stop at the entrance of the library.

"Everything alright in here?" Erik asked, raising an eyebrow and looking between Charles and I before resting one arm on the frame of the door.

Charles flashed him a smile, "We're fine, I was just reassuring Claudia about her training," Charles explained, rolling up his sleeves

"So, we're all set then?" Erik questioned, pushing off the frame and closing the door behind him.

I arched an eyebrow, "You knew about this too?" I asked, my eyes slightly widening.

Erik nodded, "Charles knew you would be uncomfortable with this, so he asked me to be here as well to lessen your anxiety," Erik explained, walking over to where Charles and I were.

"Now Claudia, I want you to focus very carefully. Use your emotions to try and block me out," Charles instructed. "I want to see how quickly you can raise your mental shield on command,"

My expression was tinged with worry, "And what if it goes wrong?" I asked, looking between the two men.

"It won't," Charles comforted me.

I took a deep breath, my brows knitting together, "Fine," I sighed, closing my eyes I began to slowly lower my mental shield letting my mind be filled with the raw sensations and feelings coming from everyone in the mansion. Reopening my eyes I faced Charles. "Ready?" I asked nervously, starting to play with my hands.

Charles nodded, "On my count okay?" Charles asked, and I exhaled loudly while nodding my head as well. _"Three...Two...One..."_ Charles counted, before he lifted two fingers to his temple as I raised my mental shield.

My eyes fluttered closed as I summoned all of the anger and fear that was coursing through me to block Charles from my mind. A sharp pain ripped through my head and a gasp escaped from my lips as I opened my eyes. The room started to spin and slow down, and the next thing I know, it's gone black. When I wake up, I am lying on soft grass. _Grass_? I sit up, rubbing my head. Looking around I see Charles and Erik do the same. What happened? Where are we?

 _"Claudia!"_

I turned around and saw a Caucasian teenage boy with brown hair gelled to the side and horn-rimmed glasses walking towards me. He looked about seventeen. I gasped as I realized who it is.

"James?" I asked the boy, bewildered.

But he doesn't stop, he runs right through me, as if I wasn't even there. Standing up, I looked around. Everything's slightly misty and fuzzy, and it takes me a while to realize where we are. We're in the meadow I used to play in as a child. I watch as my childhood friend, James, ran towards a teenage girl with medium length, black hair.

"Who is that?" Erik asked, arching a brow.

"It's _me_ ," I whispered, as a lone tear slipped down my face as I recalled happier times.

James was the first person outside of my family I ever told about my mutation. We became very close friends. I always felt my mother and father thought I was a freak even though they said that I wasn't. Still, I isolated myself, spending hours in this very meadow, lying in the daisies next to the river. I watched as James and my younger self laugh about something hysterically, and a small laugh escaped my mouth.

"This is most peculiar..." Charles muttered.

Erik and Charles move closer to me, unsure of what is going on. I smiled at my younger self's happiness. What I'd give to be like that again.

 _James rolled over to his side, and wrapped one arm around my younger self's waist and leaned down, kissing her. His kisses were always soft and comforting. James rolled over to lay on his back and said something that caused them both to laugh. Suddenly, five teenage boys appear in the meadow._

I recognize them immediately, and my mouth fell open in horror as I realized what I'm about to witness. Again.

"No..." I whispered, almost breathlessly. "No!" I screamed, much louder, and Charles grabbed my hand.

 _The leader of the teenage boys, stalking towards them and they both stand up as James pushed my younger self behind him. Within a blink of an eye, the leader of the group landed a vicious punch on James' face and he fell to the ground, his nose bleeding. The three teenage boys yanked her from her spot as the other pair of teenage boys grabbed the struggling James and pinned him against the tree on the river bank. While my younger self was having a heated debate with the teenage boys._

Although I couldn't hear it. I knew exactly what they're saying. The four boys had heard that James and I were dating, and they had to teach this "negro lover" a lesson. They wanted to get rid of him and I knew, I was next. I don't have time to close my eyes as the knife is thrust into James' stomach. I heard a blood-curdling scream coming from the seventeen-year-old me. I could feel Charles recoil in horror and out of the corner of my eye I saw Erik had the same reaction. I watched, all over again, as James' body slumped lifelessly to the ground and the boys turn on me. Knowing what happens next.

 _A hand grabbed her shoulder and roughly threw her onto her back so that she was staring upwards into the faces of the three boys that were her age. One of them crouched over her, the one with those dead blue eyes, only now they were laughing in a way that made her scalp prickle with dread. The ringleader grabbed her by the arm and tugged her roughly off the ground._

 _"You know what, maybe our buddy James was onto something. She's pretty easy on the eyes for a negro," he rasped, an evil smirk forming on his lips as he tightened his grip around her arms._

 _And then before she knew it, he had grabbed her face in one of his meaty hands, and forced her mouth to his._

 _"Get off! Get off, get off, get off!" her thoughts screamed._

 _She tried to pull back with a mixture of shock and utter revulsion, but his friends were all around her, hands seizing her coat and hair, eager voices egging him on, laughing and leering as she struggled to break free. No one had been this close, without her permission. No one. And no one had the right to ever be this close, to ever touch her as he was doing now. His hand was on her waist and traveling even lower, and all she wanted was for him to stop it, stop it right now. She wriggled, clawed frantically, bucking and juddering against iron-clad hands like a rabbit caught in a snare, but he only mashed his face further into hers._

 _And suddenly there was so much rage contained inside her head, so much pure anger and hatred seething within her skull, that she felt that she might burst. Heat raced through her blood, a fire that she never felt before, that she hadn't allowed herself to feel in the pretense of being normal. But now this monster had crossed a line, was touching her in ways that left her feeling exposed and violated, like her skin had been torn away from her very soul to be gawked at. Murdering the boy she loved because he had the audacity to not care about her skin color and wanted to date her._

 _So perhaps this once she was at liberties to cross her very own line._

 _All she could see was red, as she pulled back furiously, lashing out in any way possible much to the amusement of my audience. Her skin grew warm, then hot, then boiling, thrumming with energy, the hairs along her arms rippling from the magnitude of it, far stronger than she could have possibly comprehended. Seventeen-year-old Claudia, in an enraged frenzy, outstretched her palm and a jolt of crackling purple energy roared from it, the distant ring of screaming in my ears, a warm tingle that played over her skin as the remaining energy fizzled and dissolved, melting back into the nothingness from which it had erupted._

 _Then...silence._

 _When the filter of red was lifted from her eyes and she dazedly took in my surroundings. One of the boys was at the base of a the tree, he wasn't moving and his neck looked deformed, the other boy was knocked into the river unconscious. Their ringleader's face was puffy and blistered, having borne the brunt of the attack, pus oozing from the more severe of the burns._ _She turned my head to see a deputy sprinting towards her, yelling for me to run. It was James' older brother John. By this point, John had reached her and she had a horrified expression on her face, matching the other teenage boy's as John tried pulling her away._

 _"Not only is she a negro, she's a filthy mutant!" One of the two remaining boys hurled the insult toward her._

 _She snapped back and yelled something at them and one turns toward the river. Then, with no explanation, lowers his head into water and he drowned himself. The boy that murdered James took the knife that he was holding and slid it across his throat, silting his throat from ear to ear and a crimson liquid spilled from his throat, before he dropped to the ground._

 _She grabbed John by the chin and began to speak to him in a hurried tone, as if he had fallen into a daze, he gave a sluggish nod, and then slowly walked back towards his car to call in the crime scene._

My stomach churned and my heart pounded fiercely against my chest just as the image shifted and I let out a shaky breath, gasping for air. The memory had always haunted me, but I never thought I would have to witness James' murder again. As our surroundings change into a busy street. I had tears in my eyes, and I furiously wiped them away as new ones came trickling down my cheek. I turned and saw that Charles and Erik were staring at me. Charles' eyes were glazed as if he wanted to cry and Erik just looking at me with something like pity.

"What's happening?" I yelled at Charles.

"I must have pushed into your mind, your empathy mutation is allowing us to see your memories," he speculated.

Slowly, I spun around taking in our new surroundings, it was growing close to springtime and the streets of Washington D.C. were chalk full of busy people, rushing to get to somewhere they needed to be. Men and women hurried from work to get home, the elderly fed pigeons, and kids ran off out of their schools. It seemed like everyone had somewhere to go.

I let out jagged breaths as I shook my head now remembering why this day was a significant memory for me. A large hand laid down on my shoulder and I whipped around to see Erik standing next to me, looking mildly concerned.

"I'm fine," I stated automatically, pushing my hair out of my face with a shaky hand.

Erik looked unconvinced, but unsure of what exactly to do. He opened his mouth to say something else, but was interrupted when I gave out another gasp. I stepped closer to the wide window in front of us and peered in.

 _There was a young woman sitting at a table, absentmindedly running her finger along the rough wood of the tabletop next to her novel. She had lived there for almost two years and frankly was growing rather restless. It had been about a month, or maybe two since her boyfriend broke up with her because she was a mutant. She looked out the window that she was seated next to, watching as people walked by enjoying the company of others._

 _That was until she felt like she was being watched, her head snapped from the window and landed on a tall tawny brown skin man. His dark brown eyes watching her curiously behind his round frames. His crisp white shirt stood out against the dim lit bar along with his smart grey slacks. Slowly, the man approached her and slid into the empty seat across from her, now she could fully see how handsome this stranger was. It was clear that the man was fit, you could the outline of his muscles underneath his shirt._

 _"Hello. Are you Claudia Walker?" she nodded slowly, and the man watched as her eyes became guarded. The open book lay forgotten next to her._

 _"Who wants to know?" Claudia asked back, and the man smiled despite her rude and blunt attitude._

 _"My name is Professor Harry Lewis, I teach at Howard, and Miss Walker I believed you are a very gifted young woman," He complimented, flashing her with another smile._

 _She wanted to tell him that what she has wasn't a gift. It was a curse. But she didn't._

 _"Um, thank you Professor, but I-uh I promise that I'm not that gifted. My academics are great, but it's not better some of the students at the university," she pointed out._

 _"You think I'm talking about your academic performance Miss Walker? Oh, no, no, I'm talking what really makes you special, my dear,"_

 _"I don't know what you're talking about," she stated, feigning a perplexed expression which was also expressed in her tone of voice._

 _Professor Lewis reached across the table and gently grasped her hand, his cold hands caressed her heated skin._

 _"I really do know what you are, Claudia Walker. I am here to help you, not hurt you,"_

 _She jumped, it was Professor Lewis' voice, but in her mind? Maybe it wasn't, maybe she was going crazy._

 _"I can assure you, your sanity isn't to be questioned,"_

 _There it was, again._

 _"Whatever you want. I want no part in it. I just want to live a normal life!" She whispered harshly, and went to stand up._

 _Professor Lewis gently tugged her back down with his hand, "Listen, let me explain first," he said, and Claudia slowly sat back down as he let go her hand. Professor Lewis slid from his seat across from Claudia and sat next to her. "Thank you," he sighed, turning his body to face her. "I didn't mean to intrude, but I heard your thoughts a few days ago about not having enough money to finish college, and I thought I could be of assistance,"_

 _"How?"_

 _"I'm running a lab for people like us, all you have to do is participate in some tests and then poof, your financial aid problems are gone," he explained, a charming smile appearing on his full lips, where a tiny gap between his front teeth could be seen. "And who knows, maybe I can teach you how to control your abilities better," he added, with a shrug. "I am a professor, after all," he joked, maintaining his smile.  
_

 _And now he had her intrigued – what if there was a way? What if she could manage some semblance of control over this? What if some day she could look into someone's eyes without the fear of experiencing pain and rage and despair and love and roiling, frothing emotion trying to burn her alive?_

 _"Sign me up," she answered quickly._

 _Professor Lewis clapped his hands together, a smile on his face, "Wonderful!" he cheered happily. "Now tell me about your powers Claudia," he stated._

 _"Well with my empathy, I guess I entrance people if I focus hard enough," she answered unsurely. "And there are times when my emotions affects everybody I'm in the room with," she explained._

 _"Wow," Professor Lewis commented, almost like he was very eager to please her. "So, you can control people?"_

 _She bit her lip, "I've always hated that word when it comes to describing my ability," she said, letting out a nervous chuckle and turning away._

 _Professor Lewis grabbed gently by her chin with one of his cold hands. A shudder went through her and heat flushed in her cheeks._

 _"Embrace it Claudia, because you have the power to influence the world around you," he commented, before releasing her chin._ _After another deep look into her eyes he took her hand and raised it to his lips. "My dear, you and I are going to accomplish great things together," he whispered and his lips softly touched her knuckles, which caused her cheeks heat up even more. He rose elegantly to his feet and with a last look at her he turned around and started to walk away, leaving her confused._

My ankles wobbled to the side as I stumbled back a few steps from the diner window. I would have fell to the ground had it not been for two pair of arms steadying me onto my feet.

"Claudia, who is he?" Erik asked softly, and I looked up at him with effort.

"A horrible mistake,"

* * *

 _ **AN: The walk down memory lane will continue next chapter, I hope this chapter wasn't too confusing to read.**_


	14. A Never-Ending Nightmare

_**AN: I'm so happy that I finally finished this chapter, it took forever because of revision and editing. Once again, a big thank you to everyone that has followed this story! Just another warning this chapter has slightly strong language.  
**_

* * *

"I can't do this," I breathed, before turning to Charles, shaking my head. "I can't do this," I repeated, putting my hand to my mouth as I backed away from the two men next to me. "I-I n-need to get out of here!" I exclaimed, clenching my eyes shut in an attempt to remove myself to escape the memories I've buried for so long.

I began to feel hot and dizzy. I felt like there were walls closing in on me and I had no escape.

"Calm your mind, Claudia," Charles advised gently, but I only felt the hammering of my heart in my chest intensify. "Claudia, look at me, you need to calm down. Claudia!" Charles grabbed my arms, yanking me from my own head and my eyes snapped opened. I began to hyperventilate, eyes focusing on everything and nothing as the telepath took my face in his hands and forced me to concentrate on him. "Claudia, you need to calm down or you're going to split your mind in two," He explained, his face twisting in pain. "Your mind is screaming so loud you're hurting me," Charles said through gritted teeth.

"Make it stop," I begged, searching his eyes. "Please, make it _stop,_ " I whispered, grabbing his hands and placing them at my temples.

Charles looked at me, his eyes wide and sympathetic, "Love, I've tried and nothing has worked. I push any harder and the results might be disastrous for the both of us," Charles explained, his hands drawing back to his own temples. "It's almost like your mind wants you to work through these unpleasant memories, because it's something that needs to be done," Charles' soft voice whispered in my ear.

"I don't want to remember," I gritted out, trying to stop the panic from rising in my chest even further. "Just make it stop," I whispered.

"It's okay," Charles coaxed. "You're going to be okay," he assured, gently grabbing both of my hands. "You just need to calm down,"

I ripped my hand out of his, focusing on something calm. What was calm?

"You don't _know._ You don't know what he made me do! You don't know what a sick bastard he was. _I do_ ," I breathed, my chest heaving.

Erik and Charles stared at me sympathetically and as a drop of water fell from my chin I realized why. I'd been crying. Angrily wiping my face with my hand, a frown formed on my face as the three of us were thrown into another memory. We were in a foyer of a house. I found myself turning my head from left to right multiple times, my breathing heavy and labored. Most people would love to have a house as big as this one, what with the supposed openness and modern facilities that are pleasing to the eye. Yes, I can see that, but with the merciless and cruel encounters I have had here, I don't share the same opinions as the majority.

Truly, it was a nice space...one of which many would be proud of claiming ownership of, at least that of which I have actually seen. The floors were made of beautiful, stained wood and the walls painted a lovely crimson give an aristocratic aura to the house. At least, apart from the basement corridors that I know by heart. _Those_ claustrophobic walls are a miserable grey and are accompanied by dulled and creaky russet floor.

Two sets of footsteps echoed in the hallway moving away from us, unconsciously I began to follow behind them until I was standing on the backyard stoop. The light from the sun was shining brightly and it was almost an enchanting light. There wasn't a cloud in the sky that could block it's majestic rays. And there stood Professor Lewis and myself in the middle of his backyard.

 _"Claudia, I want you to use your telekinesis to lift each of the objects on the ground," Professor Lewis pointed to a tennis ball, baseball, basket ball, brick, and cinder block. The object grew larger and heavier. "Once you lift them, I want you to psychically push them into those baskets ten feet away. This will help you learn how to levitate and also toss objects of varying weight. It will also help you regulate how much power you need to lift certain weights,"_

 _"I understand," she answered calmly,_ _nodding her head as a smile appeared on her lips.  
_

 _But she was anything but calm and enthusiastic. She was going into this kicking and screaming. She was nervous. Jumpy. Stressed. Frustrated. Lost. Found. Happy. Sad. She wanted to vomit. Her mutation was unpredictable and uncontrollable. That wasn't until a pair of hands placed themselves on her waist from behind her, almost grounding her in a way. Professor Lewis leaned down to her ear and whispered something that made the two of them laugh, and just before he released her waist Professor Lewis pressed his lips to her cheek.  
_

 _"You'll do fine," he murmured._

I could feel the burning stares of Charles and Erik on the back of my head.

"He really played me like a fool," I whispered, shaking my head in disbelief at my younger self's stupidity and naivety.

"You two were together," Charles stated gently. "You were a couple," he added, his voice never taking an accusatory tone.

A humorless chuckled escaped from me, "And I have wanted to throw myself in front of a bus because of it," I confirmed, looking down at the ground biting my lip

Feelings of sickness, disgust, and shame spread throughout body as I remembered how readily I ate up his little praises. He gave me all the validation that I so desperately wanted as a child from my own parents. It wasn't long before his seemingly innocent compliments turned into something more; the lingering stares and touches to the kisses on my hand or forehead. And I foolishly allowed his affectionate gestures to escalate, thinking that I was in love with this man. So, when Professor Lewis declaration of love for me came out during a candlelit dinner I was so overcome with emotion from his "tenderness" that on the same night, I gave myself to him, willingly.

And that's when he had me ensnared, ensnared into his web of lies.

I was young and dumb and couldn't see the clear manipulation and grooming that was going on. No, I was too busy being a lovesick fool. He promised me that he would never, ever let harm come to me while I was with him, and I believed him. But everything he promised me was a dirty, filthy lie. I remembered.

I remembered _every_ fucking thing he did to me.

"Did you love him?" Erik asked.

"Yes," I answered softly, turning around to face Charles and Erik. "But I had learnt very quickly that his _love_ for me was all a facade," I recalled.

Just remembering that I had consensually slept with Professor Lewis made want to puke. I watched as Professor Lewis' backyard and everything around it seemingly disintegrated before us only for our surroundings to change into a small library. We were still on Professor Lewis' property, but it was a different time, a different date. If my memory serves me correctly then this is when I began to realize Professor Lewis was not the sweet, loving man I thought he was.

 _"You would be...in my mind?" Professor Lewis could see that she was wrestling with her own doubt and he was worried that her fear would get in the way of their training. At last, he saw Claudia nod in agreement, but her features were tightened in anxiety._

 _"Relax," Her expression was anything but calm, and he decided that it couldn't be helped. Keeping his eyes locked on hers, he pressed two fingers to his temple and pushed forward into her mind._

 _Claudia knew the second Professor Lewis' mind merged with her own. The moment it happened, she was overwhelmed with such a sense of fear that it was difficult for her to think about anything else. She could feel him in her thoughts, and the foreign presence had such a sense of wrong to it that she gagged in disgust. It wasn't right. Her mind was her own._

 _"No!"_

 _Claudia abruptly and backed away from her mentor, nearly tripping over the foot rest that sat behind her. Claudia wasn't sure whether her words were spoken aloud or inside her head, but the minute they were said she felt Professor Lewis withdraw._

 _"I can't do this," She couldn't meet his eyes, couldn't bear to look and see what surely would have been disappointment._

 _Perhaps he was angry with her for not following through._ _Before he had a chance to say anything to her, Claudia turned and fled from the room, not bothering to close the door behind her._ _But Claudia could still feel the lightest touch of Professor Lewis' emotions. And a sudden wave of anger bombarded her mind from the other side of the wall, making her gasp as one thought crossed her mind._

"There would be hell to pay for that," I stated, repeating the thought I had.

 _"Stand up!"_

The sharp words made us all turn around, only for us to witness another memory of mine. We were standing in a small study, I watched as my twenty year-old self tried to force her body to cooperate.

 _She could feel the security guard's irritation before his hand came down across her cheek. She stumbled and nearly fell again, when hands caught her._

 _"Now, now, be nice. She's just a girl," the words were kind, but the hairs on the back of her neck stood up. It was Professor Lewis. He always had kind words for her, but his emotions didn't match up. She swallowed hard and moved away from him. The guard left them alone, like they normally did._ _"Now, Claudia, are you feeling better than yesterday? Will you use your powers again?" It was the question he asked every day._

 _She stared at him, tears swimming in her eyes, "Please, please let me go. I've done all your tests, you can keep the money. Please, just let me go!" She pleaded, tensing herself as his disappointment that barely covered rage washed over her. "Ah, Claudia, you disappoint me. What would your parents think of you, a college dropout?" He just sighed and rang his bell._

 _She closed her eyes as sobs wracked her body._ _Two security guards grabbed her roughly from the room, ignoring her squeak of pain as they gripped places where the shackles had dug into her skin and made marks._

 _"Take her to the lab,"_ _Professor Lewis ordered, a_ _s she was dragged away.  
_

I unconsciously rubbed my wrist and traced my the scars on my wrist, I turned away and stared at Erik and saw his jaw clench as Professor Lewis walked out his office, I looked over and watch Charles' horrified expression. Time seemed to speed up as if someone hit the fast-forward button. Now we were in the lab.

 _As my younger self came to consciousness, she barely had time to regain her senses before all she could think about was the intense, sweltering heat that slowly seemed to be eating her alive like some ravenous animal that had no control over it's appetite. Her blood boiled beneath her skin, bringing silent screams up her throat though she couldn't set them free due to the fact that her body refused to allow her control because of the drugs swimming around in her system._

 _Throat running dry from constricted sobs and body aching from the endless thrashing against her restraints, she laid on a metal laboratory table. Feeling the ever rising panic claw at the edge of her psyche, she made another attempt to get of the table and get out, as far away as she could, but the minuscule motion caused fire to spread in her muscles, and breathing came even harder._

 _Broken ribs.  
_

 _Forcing herself to move, she brought a hand gently to her face, feeling dried blood there, from a gash near her hairline. Her shirt was also stiff with dried blood, caused by the blood that trickled out her nose. Moving to her abdomen, she felt the tender bruise that had been caused the last time she fought, and staring at her hands, she saw black and blue bruises mixed with dry blood._

 _"Well, well, look who decided to join us," An oily voice announced. "Hey Robert, the girl's awake,"_

 _Turning her head, she saw the raven haired man known as David. Glancing at her with piercing grey eyes, he leered at her in a manner that made her feel dirty, effectively putting her on her guard, her focus sharp, despite the headache that was making her dizzy._

 _"Leave her alone, David," the other man named Robert commented. "Professor Lewis will kill you if you hurt her," he added, not looking up from his clipboard.  
_

 _"I'm not going to hurt her," Tyler sneered, inching closer, reaching out and touching her face. She flinched. "I just want to have some fun with her, that's all,"_

 _"Your idea of fun won't be hers, David," the other man spat. "Go. Tell Professor Lewis she's awake," he ordered._

 _With a growl at being ordered around, the other male left angrily._

Our surroundings shifted again.

" _So, you would abandon me, your fellow mutant, for a race that will try to destroy you?" Professor Lewis said menacingly, looking down at the girl before him. "You disappointed me again Claudia. I thought you were better, wiser. To think that I've given you everything since we met. A second home, education, training, and this is how you thank me. By disobeying me. Your parents would have been ashamed of you"_

 _"B-Bringing up my parents doesn't work anymore, Professor Lewis," she stammered, mentally kicking herself for not being able to sound confident and strong. Every time she and Professor Lewis had an argument her voice would turn shaky, making him assume she was afraid of him. And she was but her anger had the upper hand._

 _"That sounded very convincing,"_ _ _Professor Lewis snickered._ "Claudia you care so much about humans, but have you forgotten that you have made humans beg for their death countless times?" he asked, raising his eyebrows._

 _Claudia glared at Professor Lewis, he wore a mocking smile on his face, "You made me do that Professor. I would never have used my power in that manner if it weren't for your teaching methods," she remarked, narrowing her eyes at him._

" _You wouldn't have any power if it weren't for my teaching methods, Claudia,"_

" _Well maybe I would have preferred it that way, Professor," she remarked._

 _Professor Lewis' eyes narrowed, "I think we're done for now, we'll talk again tomorrow," He turned around and walked towards a liquor cupboard to get himself some nice scotch. "I'll tell that nice gentlemen, David, to escort you to your room," The amusement was clearly audible in his voice._

 _He knew Claudia hated David with every fiber of her being._

I watched as the memory faded to black, just like a movie I would see at the theater. This is what all this felt like, one long movie about my life. Then everything around us turned bright as a golden dust rippled in front of us horizontally in a tidal wave fashion until they both clashed at one another, meeting at the center.

 _Professor Lewis and Claudia_ _were on the rooftop of one the many university buildings,_ _leaning against the ledge as they overlooked the rather empty campus. Night had fallen and t_ _he moon had risen above the quiet campus grounds.  
_

Oh God, not this night. This was the night that I knew there was a darkness within me, maybe it was always there, but lying dormant, or maybe Professor Lewis planted the seeds for it to grow within me. It was one year since I'd met Professor Lewis and with his training I had quickly learned to control my empathy and telekinesis, and found it necessary to teach myself how to build mental shields to block out Professor Lewis if I wanted to stay sane.

 _"You know what today marks Claudia?" Professor Lewis asked, looking over at her._

 _"I do not," Claudia answered, shaking her head. "P_ _lease enlighten me," she said, as the_ _ _warm night air ruffled her hair._ _

_Professor Lewis lifted his hand and brushed stands of hair from her face, "Today, is the one year anniversary of me being the luckiest man by meeting the most lovely and powerful creature on this planet," he proclaimed, running his thumb down her cheek._

 _A gloom yellow light glinted over the two, so Professor Lewis could maintain eye contact with the woman in front of him. A delicate smile splayed on her lips, as her brown eyes hold onto his._

 _"You sure know how to make a woman feel special," she snorted, turning her body to face him._

 _He turned his body as well, "My methods have made you stronger have they not?" he asked, arching a brow._

 _"Yes," Claudia answered stiffly._

 _Professor Lewis grinned at her, "Then that's all that matters," he agreed, as he placed his hands on Claudia's hips pulling her closer. "As a matter of fact, why don't you show me how far you've come since being under my tutelage," he suggested, still smiling at her._

 _"Fine," Claudia agreed mirroring his smile. "But, only because you're cute," she added,_ _a wicked smirk now forming on her lips._

 _"Atta girl," he cheered, placing a quick kiss to her lips._

 _Claudia smiled, and while still looking right at him, she moved her fingers. Wisps of purple aura slowly slithered upwards Professor Lewis' body and his eyes widened as he watched the energy spread all around him._ _Professor Lewis couldn't move. He had forced her to use this side of her mutation over and over again to make it stronger and now it was used against him._

 _"Claudia, what are you doing?" Professor Lewis asked, and for the first time she seen an emotion that he never expressed.  
_

 _Fear._

 _ _"I'm going to do what I should have done a long time ago," She answered, lifting her hand up and drifting Professor Lewis from the safety of the rooftop to dangling him over the ledge of the building.__

 _ _"Please dear, let's be reasonable," Professor Lewis pleaded, sounding slightly shaky.__

 _ _ _ _ _" _No," Claudia answered simply, h_ er smirk only widened as she_____ _ _ _ _ _read his emotions like an open book, c___ onfusion, fear, desperation. "You never offered me the same courtesy," she reminded, a humorless chuckle escaping her body.  
__

 _ _ _"You kill me then what Claudia? You were nothing without me! You were nothing but a scared girl!" he snarled.  
___

 _"I think I will manage without you just fine," She assured, flashing him a faux smile. "It's like said you earlier, under your tutelage I have grown stronger," she repeated mockingly, before releasing her hold on him.  
_

I watched as Professor Lewis dropped from our sights. There was an abrupt scream of terror from Professor Lewis before it was cut off as his body hit the ground with a sickening thud. My younger self causally strolled to the ledge and peered and we followed behind her. The sight was a grim a one.

Professor Lewis was surrounded in a puddle of his own blood, his limbs bent in unnatural ways.

"My God," Charles commented, his face ashen.

Laughter bubbled out of my younger self, and we turned to look at her, her shoulders shook with laughter.

 _"Goodbye Harry," Claudia said coldly and she walked away._

 _Turning her back against her teacher and her fellow mutant._

An earsplitting scream of horror reverberated the air, but not once did that seem to bother her, she continued walking and with a flip of her hair she slipped back into the building.

 _"I've never felt so exposed except with my time with Professor Lewis. What will they think of me now? Will they think I'm a monster? Will they-"_ I thought, and my breath quickened.

The world around us becomes clear once more and we're back in the library I collapsed, hyperventilating, gasping for air. I turned to my friends and I can't tell if their faces are those of pity or disgust. I pulled myself up, stumbling everywhere, and run as fast as I can away from them.

~~~x~~~

I could sense from Charles' emotions that he had approached my closed door, and waited outside for several minutes, until he tapped softly on the door, calling out gently.

"Claudia, are you in there? It's Charles,"

When he was met with no response, I could hear Charles tightened his grip on the doorknob.

"Claudia, I'm going to come in now. If you wish to be alone, please indicate so and I will leave immediately," Charles' statement was met with nothing but silence once again, so he turned the handle of the door, opening it slowly.

When the door had been opened, my back was facing him as I stared out the window blankly, tears flowing freely down my face. Charles stood in the entryway, before closing the door behind him. Stepping forward uncertainly and receiving no reaction at all from me, Charles walked across the room towards window I was facing, covering the area in several long strides. He knelt on his knees next to the bed so that he was looking directly at me.

I could tell Charles was unsure of what to say, so I broke the silence first, "You know I got away with the murders?" I asked raspily, finally looking at Charles.

Charles' furrowed his brow, "What?" Charles asked bewildered.

"Confusion is a funny thing, especially if you have the power to manipulate it. John was so very confused, he didn't know I was a mutant. So I exploited his confusion and I convinced John that it was a murder-suicide, James was friends with those boys at one point, but stopped hanging out with them once he met me. I told John that's the reason they killed him, and then I lied about one of the boys having a mutation and he killed the trio out of bloodlust after killing James, shortly killing himself out of guilt," I explained, scooting over and patting the bed so Charles could sit on my bed.

Charles stood up and gently sat on my bed and reached out, softly wiping the tear streaks from my face with the pad of his thumb.

"Claudia, love, I'm so sorry-I-" Charles started.

"You didn't know?" I finished, raising my eyebrow expectantly. "Well, now you why I don't like people in my head," I stated, letting out a sigh. "I can't begin to describe to you the horror that comes with knowing that your mind isn't as safe as you think it is," I commented, briefly closing my eyes.

"I just never would have guessed these things happened to you, when we first met, you were so carefree," Charles explained, his hand now moving to my hair and stroking it.

"What did you want Charles? A big flashing sign, saying 'I've had a traumatizing life'," I retorted, tilting my head slightly. "Charles, there aren't many people who care about the plight of a Black woman in America, what makes you think they would sympathize with a black woman who's also a mutant?" I questioned, dropping my gaze to my hand. "I swallowed a bitter pill by coming to the realization that no one will truly care about me," I finished, looking back up at Charles.

"You're wrong," Charles corrected, he spoke gently, never breaking his gaze away from mine. "I care about you, and so does everyone in the mansion," Charles insisted.

Charles started rubbing soothing patterns on the back my hand with his thumb, Charles lifted my hand to his lips and kissed my knuckles just as someone knocked twice before entering. The now familiar undercurrent of anger told me it was Erik. But I didn't want to move my hand from Charles', the warmth, the comfort, and affection wrapping themselves around me were too blissful to bring to an end. I turned my head to look at Erik, slipping my hand from Charles', I shifted from me laying on my side to pushing myself up to leaning the headboard.

"Are you alright?" Erik asked gently.

"I've been better," I answered, as Erik took a seat at the foot of my bed. It was silence between the three of us and I stared down at my hands, suppressing the urge to raise a hand to my lips and bite my thumb. "It's like you said Charles..." I stated, trailing off and the two of them looked at each other confusion.

"What?" Charles asked confused.

"The night you two recruited me," I began, looking between the two men. "You said, 'There is danger within me,'" I recited, looking at Charles and his eyes widened.

"Claudia I-" Charles started.

"I'm not mad Charles," I interrupted, shaking my head. "You're right. I've hurt people," I admitted, my mouth forming a thin line.

"We understand," Charles assured me, his kind eyes staring into mine.

My lips quirked into a small smile before I cleared my throat, "There is something that I should tell you two," I stated.

"And what would that be?" Erik asked curiously.

"When I killed those boys when I was younger, I should've been upset, but it was cathartic. I _enjoyed_ it," I answered truthfully, my eyes shifting between them to gauge their reactions.

"They had just murdered your boyfriend in front of you, it's understandable Claudia," Erik justified.

"No, Erik, a normal person would swear to never use their powers in such a way again. But not me, I rather liked the idea of being able to control people. And when Professor Lewis-" I started.

"When he abducted you?" Erik asked motionlessly, cutting me off. "He used you, tortured you?"

"No Erik, I agreed to go with him. And that's a mistake I will always regret. He was one of us," I explained softly. "I thought I could trust him," I added, shaking my head.

"He was a telepath, like me," Charles stated looking over at me.

My voice and body and emotions becoming detached as I nodded, "He took it slow, got me to trust him, to _love_ him. That's when he started the tests on my abilities. His favorite way was through illusions. In one instance, I was trapped in one of his illusions, thinking I was having the best night of my life with some handsome stranger after escaping from him, when I was really kissing one his lab assistants. The only reason the illusion, broke was because of the lab assistant lied, and I know when someone is lying. He strengthened my powers," I paused, taking a deep breath to compose myself. "It was brilliant, really," I finished, shaking my head side to side.

"It was a vile, manipulative, twisted, sick endeavor!" Erik spat. "He turned on his own kind!"

"His own kind," I repeated bitterly. "No. He wasn't one of us. A mutant, yes. But not one of _us_ ," I forced a smile, nudging him with my foot. "We're the good guys, Erik. Like Captain America, but cooler," I quipped.

Erik rolled his eyes, looking at me with a sort of spark I had never seen before.

"I have to ask," Charles started, breaking my concentration from Erik. "Was there ever an investigation?" Charles asked.

"Yes, it was a brief one, but it was ruled a suicide," I explained, tucking a piece of hair behind my ear. "I hope you two don't think I'm a monster now," I sighed.

"Of course not," Charles stated sincerely, grabbing my hand and giving it a reassuring squeeze.

There was a knock at my door before it opened revealing Raven's petite figure. She looked at the two men who were sitting on my bed, and I felt a wave jealousy wash over me, which confused me.

"If you're not _occupied_ , Charles, can we talk in private?" Raven asked, I didn't miss the emphasis on the word occupied.

 _"I wonder what's gotten into her now?"_ I thought.

Charles slowly let go of my hand, "Of course, Raven. We were just finishing our conversation," Charles answered, as he stood up and walked across the room to reach Raven. "Good night Claudia," Charles said, a smile on his lips.

"Night Charles," I responded, and Raven and Charles left my room.

It was just Erik and I now, "Now you know where the crack is in my _perfect_ exterior, Erik," I stated,

Erik climbed further onto my bed till he was sitting next to me and gazed at me, "That's one enormous crack," Erik replied, repeating the same words I said to him. "But it only made you stronger," Erik continued, lifting his finger and gently trailing it down my cheek, the gesture sent shivers down my spine and goosebumps raised on my arms.

My eyes went straight for his inner forearm and the figures that had been inked into his skin, _214782._ Numbers that had reduced an entire people into nothing but cattle. But markings. It was disturbing, and my hand reached out to touch his flesh in an attempt to stop my mind from racing. My fingers brushed his skin and he immediately grabbed my hand, his long, elegant fingers enclosing mine.

"Does it ever go away?" I asked somewhat rhetorically, motioning to his reaction.

Erik didn't answer.

"The pain, the distrust, the memories- I guess it never does, does it? Maybe it gets easier," I continued, pondering morosely. "Maybe it's the prospect of revenge that makes it so," I turned to him, motioning my head to the numbers engraved upon his skin. "Does it still hurt?" I asked softly, leaning my head on his shoulder.

"Every fucking day," Erik uttered, looking at the numbers and then shifting his gaze on me.

"Our resilience through all the pain we've been through, it's amazing we survived..." I trailed off, rubbing my thumb softly across his knuckles and then looked up at Erik. "Most people wouldn't have been able to,"

Erik smiled at me brilliantly, "Well, we aren't most people are we?" Erik questioned. "We're the future of the human race, Claudia," Erik finished, lifted our entwined hands and placed his lips on my knuckles leaving a lingering kiss.

I lifted my head from his shoulder and gently placed a kiss on Erik's stubble covered cheek, "Thank you, Erik, for being here tonight,"

* * *

 _ **AN: And now you all know the full origins of Claudia and why she acts the way she does. Hoped you like it!**_


	15. A Love Supreme

_**AN: Sorry for the delay, it took forever to write this chapter. Once again thank you to everyone who has recently followed this story!**_

* * *

 _ **Third POV**_

Charles' sleep had been fitful that night. His dreams were laced with images that he couldn't name, people he couldn't identify, and an overlapping terror that nearly drove him insane. Waking up with a start, he stared wildly around the room, searching for something that would anchor him to reality. Calming his breathing, he stared up at the ceiling, wondering what had caused such horrid nightmares. He almost felt his body commanding him to go back to bed until he heard it.

A scream erupted through the house, waking everyone from their sleep.

Charles sat upright, immediately projecting his mind to through the home to figure out who had screamed. He mentally checked off each of the members in the house, everyone was awake, most likely because of the ear splitting scream that reverberated throughout the mansion.

Puzzled, Charles reached out once more, only to remember that he hadn't checked on Claudia. However, the second he touched his mind to hers, he was met with such an overwhelming sense of horror and fear that he pulled out immediately, feeling slightly sick at his stomach. Rationalizing that he had probably unwittingly shared her dreams.

Charles slid his feet out from the warmth of his blankets, pulling a pair of loose gray sweatpants over his boxers, he made his way out of the room and hurried to Claudia's room, cursing slightly upon stubbing his toe at the door frame. His body convulsed as he searched Claudia's mind once more. Pain rushed through him before he stepped out of her mind. Charles slowed his jog down where he already found a small crowd of the mutants around Claudia's door.

"Go back to bed. Erik and I will handle it," Charles instructed sternly, but there was a gentle undertone to his command.

Though they looked upset, the young mutants shrunk away back to their rooms, each casting glances back. They had never seen Claudia like this, none of them had ever seen Claudia scared. And the sudden show of emotion being terror shocked the young mutants. A look passed between them all, one of both shock and concern.

Erik turned to Charles. "What is wrong with her?" Another scream ruptured the air.

"I searched through her mind and it was filled with so much pain I had to leave," Charles explained. "Open the door!" Charles ordered, and Erik obliged quickly.

Claudia was twisting and turning in the bed, her body jerking and arching. Sweat was pouring from every point and her nails were scratching away at the fabric. Her eyes were moving frantically under her eye lids, vibrating almost.

 _She ran through the dark, she could not see where she was going but she knew that if she didn't run then she would be consumed by the evil that followed her. Running as fast as she could she continued through the pitch black. She could here the thunderous footfalls behind her as the evil drew closer._

 _Suddenly she ran straight into a wall of some kind. She could not see it but as she ran her hands over it to find an entrance of some kind, she could feel its rough texture. As she continued to find a way through she heard a bang behind her, turning around she could still see nothing through the dark but she felt its hot breath on her skin. Desperate now she turned round again back to the wall, however she saw two dark brown eyes, that were nearly black gleaming down at her. Screaming she tried to run left between the wall and the man behind her, but she was stopped in her tracks by another solid object. Turning around she tried to her left but again she was stopped._

 _She was trapped._

" _You are mine Claudia!" A voice came from behind her._ _Turning around, she shot a bolt of energy straight at the sound but it did not collide with anything. Suddenly she felt hands come from behind her and grabbed her head._ " _Your powers are mine!"_

 _Struggling with all her strength she tried to break free but the grip was to strong, and her strength was being drain from her._

" _No, stop it. Leave me alone. Stop it. STOP IT!"_

"Stop it. STOP IT!" Claudia screamed as she sprang awake.

Not even aware of the two men that were in front of her, she seemed to look right past them, as if they weren't there at all, Charles and Erik didn't need to wonder what kind of monsters she was facing. Pulling her knees up, she wrapped her arms around them before placing her forehead on top and began to shake. Charles slowly took a seat beside her and began rubbing his hand up and down her back.

"Everything's fine. We're all here with you. Nothing is going to happen," Charles soothed calmly, as he continued to rub her back.

Lifting her head slightly Claudia looked to her left to see Charles watching her with a concerned look on his face. Raising her head more, so that she could look around her room she saw that Erik was standing just behind Charles, an equally concerned look on his face. Erik could see that her tears had stopped for the moment, but her face still had the wet streaks to prove their existence.

"I-I-I-" Claudia stuttered, her lip trembling.

Turning back to Charles, Claudia launched herself into Charles' arms, taking him by surprise, but he wrapped his arms around her nonetheless as she began crying into his shoulder. Her shaky hands clenched at his shirt and she whimpered into his chest. Charles squeezed tightly as sobs racked her body uncontrollably.

"You're safe Claudia," Charles assured, rubbing her back and planting a kiss on top of her head. "I promise," Charles added, looking up to share a glance with Erik.

Anger. That was all Erik could feel, anger for all the pain that Claudia has gone through. But there was also an undercurrent of ache in his heart for him not being the one to wrap his arms around her and comfort her.

Charles pressed his lips together, examining Claudia for several moments, wondering if he should tell her what he knew about her dreams, or if she would be frightened by the idea of him having read her thoughts—regardless of whether he had had control over it. It wasn't long before Claudia felt the overwhelming panic die down in her throat as the gentle beat of Charles' heart served as a soothing metronome. Claudia closed her eyes and buried herself deeper into Charles' embrace, hoping that his warmth would push away her nightmares.

After several moments, Charles decided to break the silence.

"I want to try something," Charles spoke up.

She looked up at him, "Okay..." Claudia responded wearily.

Charles places his finger against his temple once again and let out one word into Claudia's mind.

 _Sleep._

And Claudia took no time in shutting her eyes and falling into the deep world of dreams. For once, she had been able to forget the pain of her past, and fell into a peaceful sleep.

"What did you do?" Erik asked as he stared at the woman he considered a good friend.

"Though she's too stubborn to admit it. She hasn't been sleeping well, I noticed it when we first took her to the CIA facility. I just simply put her into a deep sleep. One that she would recover feeling refreshed instead of exhausted," Charles explained as he pulled Claudia's blanket up and secured it around her sleeping form.

"Goodnight, Claudia. Pleasant dreams," Charles murmured sweetly.

~~~x~~~

 **Claudia's POV**

The blinding light managed to make it's way through the cracks of the satin blue curtains. It peeked it's way inside my eyes, and I let a deep breath, as soon I gained back my senses. I closed my fingers into fists, then flexed them, getting use to the feeling. I could feel air flow in and out of my nose, and hear my surroundings. Finally, I felt alive and well. A light rapping came from my bedroom door, then it slowly opened, as Charles poked his head in, surveying me. He gave a small grin, and let himself into the room.

"Good, you're awake," He spoke softly.

"And well rested," I returned hoarsely, pushing myself up.

He gave a breathless chuckle and nodded. I noted his appearance. He looked tired; deep, dark bags underneath his weary blue eyes, and his hair not as neatly parted as it usually is.

"May I come in?" Charles asked, leaning against the door.

"Of course," I answered smiling, vigorously motioning for him to come in and Charles stepped in the room, closing the door behind him. "What can I do for you this morning?" I asked, as Charles sat down on my bed.

"I wanted to come check on you. I saw your nightmare last night, Claudia," Charles started, and my smile slowly faded. "I'm sorry, Claudia, I truly am," Charles took ahold of my hands and I was struck with the sudden pity Charles felt for me.

My voice was a whisper—if the room hadn't been so silent, he probably wouldn't have been able to hear me. "Don't be," I glanced back up at him. "I know you would never violate my trust purposefully,"

Charles nodded, not taking his eyes away from mine. I looked away, pressing my cheek against the top of my arm; Charles was silent for several moments, allowing me time to grieve as I clearly wished.

After a few minutes had lapsed, he spoke again, gently. "There's no training today," Charles informed, placing his hand on mine. "Take as much time as you need," Charles said, brushing his thumb over my hand.

I lifted my head back up, "Please don't stop training on my account Charles," I pressed.

"Nonsense," Charles began. "We all deserve a day off. _You_ deserve a day off," Charles stressed. "Breakfast is being served, would you like to join on us?" Charles asked, I nodded my head yes. Charles stood up from my bed before lifting me up from the comforts of my bed, helping me onto my feet.

The two of us left my room silently and descended the steps into the kitchen that was filled chatter of the occupants in the mansion, but once I entered with Charles silence fell over everyone. Hank was standing just behind Raven both of them sharing a concerned look on their faces. Sean sat at the kitchen table, with Alex leaning on it next to him. Moira stopped mid-motion of washing dishes, and finally Erik who stood near the window starring out of it turned his body to face me.

I wrung my hands together, "I'm sorry for disturbing your sleep last night. I..uh..promise to keep my mind at bay," I apologized sheepishly, embarrassed that they all knew how troubled I really was.

That the facade I had been putting was shattered.

~~~x~~~

I looked into the mirror and smiled contently at my reflection. My hair was down and done in a loose ponytail and my makeup was done naturally, I ran my hands over the blue plaid fabric of my jumper dress, smoothing out the wrinkles I saw. The mansion was uncharacteristically quiet, but that was only because everyone had mostly left the mansion. Charles was going on a supermarket run, Moira along with the rest of the younger mutants all volunteered to go as a way to get out of the mansion and an attempt of buying food of their preferred choice.

Charles suggested that I come with them, he said it might do me so good to get out of the house, but I declined. Erik, also declined to go, he said he wanted to keep me company after yesterday. I took one last glance at the mirror and then left my room, making my way down the stairs and to the kitchen.

I walked over to the cabinets and bent down to grab a kettle from the lower cabinet. Standing back up I grabbed a tea bag from the shelf above my head and placed the bag down on the counter while I put the kettle in the sink and turned on the water. The water poured down into the kettle and I rolled up the sleeves of my brown turtleneck to avoid them getting wet. Turning around, I moved over to the stove and turned it on. I began humming to myself as I went back to the sink, turning the faucet off and grabbing the kettle filled with water.

I placed the kettle onto the burner and lowly began to sing aloud, waiting for the water to boil.

 _"When skies are cloudy and gray._ _They're only gray for a day._ _So wrap your troubles in dreams._ _And dream your troubles away,"_

I moved away from the stove and walked to the sink, grabbing a clean mug and plate from the dish tray, before I stepped away and made my way to the the food cabinet and got out a pack of biscuits, and while I was arranging them on a plate, the tea kettle began to whistle.

 _"Until that sunshine peeps through._ _There's only one thing to do._ _Just wrap your troubles in dreams._ _And dream your troubles away,"_

Pausing in my biscuit arrangements I went over to the stove and took the kettle off the stove before turning it off and dropped a lemon tea bag into my mug, pouring the boiling liquid from the kettle into my mug. I went to the refrigerator giving the tea a few minutes to steep as I located the milk in the fridge and the sugar on the countertop.

 _"Your castles may tumble._ _That's fate after all._ _Life's really funny that way..."_ I paused, taking a long draw from my mug.

"You must be feeling a lot better," Erik stated, from behind me and nearly causing me to spill hot tea on my hand. "I can't recall the last time I heard you sing," he added, with a light chuckle.

I placed my mug down and spun around to face Erik, who was standing in the entrance of the kitchen. Erik's eyes widened slightly at the sight of me and I raised my eyebrow at his reaction.

"What?" I asked, tilting my head.

"Incredible," Erik murmured. "You look absolutely incredible," He continued in shock.

I smiled as I felt my cheeks heat up, "Thank you Erik," I laughed, temporarily looking down at the floor. "But does that mean I was a downright horror to look at this whole time?" I asked teasingly, staring back up at him.

"No. No, no, no. That's not what I meant I-" Erik spluttered.

"I knew what you meant Erik, I'm just pulling your leg," I interrupted, flashing a grin at him.

"Since all the time I've known you, I have never seen you look so...peaceful," Erik commented, shaking his head.

"Yes, well, it's amazing what a good night's rest can do for one's body," I smiled, before lifting my mug and taking another sip of my tea.

Erik moved closer to me and took my free hand in his, "Come on, I have surprise for you,"

I placed my mug down, "Erik, I just made tea and biscuits," I whined, a pout forming on my face.

"But this will be so much better than tea and biscuits," Erik countered, mimicking my tone.

"Do you promise?" I questioned.

"Promise,"

I allowed myself to be pulled away from my spot on the counter and out of the kitchen. Erik led me back up the stairs and walking us to my room.

"Why are we at my room?" I asked, arching a brow.

"I need to get something," Erik replied simply.

"In my room?"

"Be right back," He said as he ran into my room and came back with one of mine silk scarves.

He tied it around my eyes and grabbed my hand, leading me down the hall and to the stairs before we finally left the mansion.

"Where are you taking me Erik?" I laughed, hearing the crunch of gravel underneath our feet.

"It's a secret," Erik chuckled, still leading me around to wherever we were going.

The sound of birds chirping around us gave me indicator that we were in the woods near Charles' mansion. Erik pace began to slow down before we came to a complete stop. Erik let go of my hand and moved behind me, his chest pressed against my back.

"I'm going to count to three and remove your blindfold," Erik said, and I nodded feeling a smile creep on my face. "One...two...three," Erik counted, his voice right next to my ear.

Erik carefully untied my blindfold and once I opened my eyes I was immersed in sunlight, blinking several times to adjust my eyes I finally noticed a picnic setting with the classic checkered blanket and wicker basket underneath a large tree in the blackberry patch that he scared me in a week ago.

"You shouldn't have!" I stated, spinning around and Erik just smiled.

"I wanted to," Erik reflecting my smile. "I figured you could use pick me up of sorts after yesterday," Erik explained, with a slight shrug of his shoulders.

"Oh Erik, thank you," I said, a genuine smile on my lips. "Thank you so much," I repeated, before walking to the laid out blanket with Erik following behind me.

I kicked my shoes as I lowered myself down on the soft blanket and Erik sat down beside me as the cool air was blew a light breeze,

"So Mr. Lehnsherr, what do you have prepared for us?" I asked, letting my toes rest in the soft grass.

"Well Miss Walker," Erik began with a smile as he started pulling our meal out of the basket. "We have sandwiches, pickles, rolls, chips, and cookies," Erik listed, individually taking out each item.

I clapped my hands together, "Very good!" I chirped, watching as Erik grabbed a pair of plates from the basket as well. "I feel quite special, that you're doing all this for me," I laughed, my hands falling back down into my lap.

Erik shook some potato chips onto the plate now in front of me before handing me a triangular cut sandwich. Our conversation flowed easily as we ate, just as it always did. We were laughing loudly, my arms waving as I shared a story from when I was in college and at a nightclub with a friend and how I used my powers to get some man to stop bothering us. Erik nearly choked on his Coke as he laughed, his hand slamming down on the blanket as he chuckled.

"Nausea?" Erik asked smiling.

"Yep," I grinned proudly. "Subtle, but effective," I answered.

I reached in the wicker basket looking for a napkin to give Erik, but instead I pulled out a brown paper bag. I drew my lips into a thin line, staring at the paper bag as it wordlessly taunted me.

"What did the poor brown paper bag do to you?" Erik asked, an amused expression on his face.

I looked back down at the bag, "During my freshman year of college I wanted to join this sorority called the AKA's or Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Incorporated," I began, lifting my gaze back to Erik. "In order to even be considered for the sorority I had to take this stupid, humiliating test. The Paper Bag Test," I remembered, with a slight scowl on my face.

"The Paper Bag Test?" Erik asked, letting out a snort.

"Yes, The Paper Bag Test," I repeated. "If your skin is darker than the paper bag then the sorority would not let you in," I explained, lifting the bag to my arm. "I failed as you can clearly see," I remarked, laying down on my back. "You know it's one thing to be discriminated against from someone of the opposite race, but it's another when you realize it's coming from your own," I stated sadly, shaking my head. "That same night after I was rejected, I thought about how much prettier I would be if I were of lighter skin," I added, placing the bag down onto the blanket.

I released a deep breath and stared down at my arms and watched as the aesthetic illusion took ahold of me. I watched as my sepia toned skin became lighter and into a tawny brown, I looked up at Erik to see palpable fascination in his eyes.

"Now am I beautiful?" I asked, pushing myself up slightly on my arms.

"My dear Claudia you could never been so wrong," Erik began. "You've always been beautiful,"

I attempted and failed to prevent the full blown smile that appeared on my face when I heard what Erik said. Black strands of hair fell in front of my face, the wind blowing a gentle breeze around us. I looked down at my feet as my skin returned to it's darker tone. Neither of us spoke for a while. After a few minutes I raised my head and saw that Erik was already looking at me with his piercing eyes.

"You're the first person I told about this," I admitted, not looking away.

"I rather like this side of you," Erik commented.

"Don't get used to it," I quipped. I pushed myself up and curled my legs to the side, propping myself up with my right hand. "Can I tell you a secret Erik?" I asked, the smile on my lips slowly diminishing.

"Of course," Erik answered, his playful demeanor changing once he saw my face.

"Do you remember Robert and David? The lab assistants," I reminded, and Erik's eyes hardened at the mention of them.

"I do," he answered tightly.

"I-uh...I killed them," I confessed, watching Erik's reaction.

"How?"

I let out a humorless laugh, "It took some doing, but I managed to track them down," I explained, nodding my head. "I found David at a medical conference, he was one of the many people to speak that day. The conference was open to the public making it incredibly easy to execute my plan. David was on a panel that was supposed to speak at 3:00 p.m.," I recalled, going off in a daze. "So, I walked myself into that auditorium and plopped myself down in one of the front row seats and just stared at him," I remembered.

I paused momentarily to catch my breath.

"It took him awhile to notice me, but when he did see me, his whole body went rigid. His eyes, oh the look in his eyes as we stared at each other, it was nothing but pure fear. And I seized on that fear, amplified the terror he was feeling times ten. And then, _boom_..." I trailed off, merely shrugging. "David clutched his chest and fell out of chair onto the stage with a thud," I continued. "Plunged the whole room into chaos," I added, a snort escaping me.

"The many cries for someone to call 911, the other speakers on stage attempting to save David, but then there was me. Rising from my seat and leaving the auditorium with the calmest expression as David's life slowly and painfully slipped away from him. Guess what the nightly news reported his cause of death as?" I asked, raising both of my eyebrows.

"What?"

"Massive heart attack," I answered, pleased with myself.

"And what of Robert?" Erik questioned curiously.

"Two weeks had passed after I killed David, I found Robert in Maryland. I learned the route he took to work every morning by discreetly following him for two days. On the third day I finally confronted him, it was morning rush hour and the sidewalks were packed with people going to work. Robert was walking one way and I was walking the opposite way facing him. All it took was one glance by him to realize who I was as we moved pass each other, and just like David, Robert's eyes widened. But I only smirked at him as I conjured an overwhelming despair to take over Robert, it wasn't long before I knew my plan had worked," I recounted, playing with my ponytail.

"And how did you know your plan worked?" Erik asked again.

"The sound of tires screeching, a loud smack of a body hitting a car, and the screams of horror told me all I needed to know," I answered dryly.

Erik and I sat in silence for awhile, I wasn't sure if my sudden confession had stunned him into silence or if he was just thinking it over.

"I could have made the decision not to kill them," I stated, and Erik turned to look me. "Hell, I could've decided not kill those security guards either. I should have been satisfied with killing Professor Lewis...but it wasn't enough, not for me. I wanted all them to suffer just like how I did because each one of them played a role in it. God Erik, what kind of person does that make me?" I questioned. "A blood thirsty animal?" I wondered.

Erik placed a hand on my cheek, "No," Erik answered softly, shaking his head. "The kind of person who rightfully got their vengeance, Claudia, and don't you ever forget that,"

"Thank you," I briefly looked down at the blanket before bringing my gaze back up at Erik.

"Your welcome,"

Erik stroked my cheek tenderly, his fingertips grazing softly over my skin. He inched closer, tilting his head toward mine, Erik leaned in so close, our noses gently touched. I took in the crisp scent of his cologne. He smelled of cinnamon, woody, and of something else. As our faces were mere inches away from each other, Erik stared deeply into my eyes. Erik swallowed, looking down, eyes flicking haphazardly from my lips back to my eyes. I reached out, running my fingers up Erik's face and I tilted my head upward, slowly closing the distance between us.

My eyes fell shut and for a moment the world around us stood still, I couldn't hear the birds chirping nor the faint creaking of trees in the breeze. No, for now it was just the two of us. I pushed my head slightly forward, our lips almost meeting.

Then suddenly the blaring of a car horn quickly broke us apart, my eyes snapping open. Both of us were breathing heavily and I looked away from Erik, staring at the path back to the mansion.

Turning back to Erik I could feel my face heating up, "We uh...should help them with the groceries," I suggested, swallowing deeply. I pushed myself up from the ground and slipped my shoes back on. "Thanks for the picnic Erik...you're a true friend," I stated, my lips forming a smile.

"Anytime," Erik answered, returning my smile.

But as I walked away from Erik I felt a dull ache of pain in my chest and I placed my hand on my chest.

 _"Hurt?" I thought._ _"No, that's not mine,"_

I wanted to look back, but dared not to. For the hurt that I felt came from none other than Erik.

~~~x~~~

"What was with the face?" I asked, remembering how Raven sat through dinner with a dark expression on her face.

"I don't know, maybe teenage angst," Charles joked.

Sunset had fallen upon Xavier Manor. It had been ten minutes since dinner ended leaving Charles and I the only people left in the kitchen. The two of us sat at the small, circular wooden table that was tucked in the corner of the kitchen, sharing a bowl of ice cream that he just bought from the grocery store. I grabbed the glass bottle of chocolate syrup next to me and poured way too much syrup on my side of the bowl, not caring that I made a goopy mess.

"Is everything alright between you and Raven?" Charles asked, before putting a spoonful of ice cream in his mouth.

"I would think so, I haven't noticed anything that would say otherwise," I answered, shrugging my shoulders before following Charles' action. I relished the sweet chocolate syrup mixed with the ice cream and decided I had never tasted anything so heavenly. "Why?" I asked, looking up at him.

"It just seemed tense at the table, that's all," Charles stated. "Are you and Erik-" Charles began.

"Jesus Charles, Erik and I getting along fine as well," I interjected, placing my spoon down. "We just had a picnic together a few hours ago," I explained, leaving out certain events. "What is with the interrogation?" I questioned, lifting a brow.

"He's been brooding ever since this afternoon,"

"It's Erik, when isn't he brooding?" I asked simply, rolling my eyes. I placed both my hands down onto the table and pushed myself up from my chair. "Look Charles, I'm sure Erik is fine," I assured, moving over to him and lowering myself down onto Charles' lap. "Okay?" I asked, looping my arm around his neck and Charles let out a sigh while nodding his head.

"I'm sure you're right," Charles said, wrapping an arm around my waist. "But as his friend, I'll check in on him," Charles stated.

"You're a good a man Charles," I remarked, playing with the loose tendrils of his hair. "Has anyone told you that?" I asked, before tapping his nose with my finger.

"Once or twice, but I'm always open to hearing it again especially from you," Charles murmured, tilting his head up slightly.

A soft laugh escaped me as I went to respond, but I got the feeling that we were being watched. I turned my head away from Charles and stared at the empty door frame of the kitchen.

"You can stop hiding behind the corner," I called out, feeling a quick flash of embarrassment. "Yes, I know you're there. Don't worry, we won't bite," I quipped.

Coming around the wall was a rather embarrassed looking Hank, pushing his glasses back up onto his nose.

"I-I just wanted to get a glass water," Hank stated sheepishly.

"Well don't let us stop you," I said, getting up from Charles' lap. "As a matter of fact, I was just leaving. I'm going to take a walk before it gets dark," I announced, sliding my hand off of Charles' shoulder.

"And I need to talk to Erik," Charles commented, standing up as well.

"See Hank," I began, spreading my hands out in front of me. "The kitchen is all yours," I joked, smiling at him.

I moved past the the two men and made my way down the deserted hallways towards the back door. There was a lake that sat behind Charles' mansion, it was the perfect path for me to stretch my legs and for me to get a little peace and quiet. Turning the handle, I opened the back door of the mansion, allowing a cool breeze to filter through the room, as I stepped through to go outside. I walked with my hands behind my back as I traveled to the lake, listening to the rhythmic crunching of my shoes on the gravel.

Arriving close to my destination I stood in the grass and admired the spirals that formed in the water from whatever fish were underneath. Glancing around, I realized I wasn't alone, there was a familiar brunette woman standing closer to the lake edge. Quietly, I walked closer to Moira until I was directly behind her.

"Want some company?" I asked with a smile.

Moira jumped from the sound of my voice and spun around to face me, her hand against her chest.

"Claudia, you scared me," Moira breathed, a smile appearing on her face.

"Sorry," I apologized, smiling and lifting my hands up.

"Yes, I would love some company," Moira said.

I walked over next to her and looked down at the lake. The shimmering water reflecting the sunlight off it in glittering splendor back at me. I unlinked my fingers from each other and lifted my hand up to my necklace, rubbing the smooth stone.

"So, you and Charles, huh?" Moira asked, and I snapped my head in her direction, Moira's eyebrow raised.

"Pardon?" I asked, dropping the stone charm.

"Claudia," Moira called, leaning her head forward and just sent me a knowing look.

Was it really that obvious Charles and I were attracted to each other?

I smiled and let out a sigh, "I guess there is something," I hinted, merely shrugging and biting my lip. "I'm not sure I'm good for him though," I suggested, shaking my head.

Moira looked at me narrowing her eyes as the wind gently blew through her hair, "Claudia," She called again. "I have seen the way Charles looks at you, the way his eyes light up at the mention of your name," Moira pointed out. "He makes you genuinely happy Claudia, it's all in your eyes, they seem to sparkle when you're truly happy," Moira continued, and I let out a chuckle of disbelief that Moira has been observing me this whole time. "Charles is the happiest when he's around you. So, the way I see it you are the best for each other," Moira finished, a grin on her face.

"Thanks," I replied with a small smile. "Although none of this will matter if we end up dying," I stated grimly, still appreciating Moira's words.

Moira looked at me shaking her head, "You won't die," Moira asserted. "Not if I have any say about it,"

~~~x~~~

 _"I know for certain, the one I love. I'm through with flirtin', it's just you I'm thinkin' of! Ain't misbehavin', I'm savin' my love for you!"_

I swayed to the music, completely dismissing every thought of the future, just moving to the music and listening as Carmen McRae's silky voice melted into the piano notes.

 _"Like Jack Horner in the corner, don't go nowhere. What do I care?"_

I spun around, dancing backwards to the shelf I needed to be at, when my back hit something hard. Not hard enough to be a bookcase though. Freezing, I felt someone grab my waist, beginning to turn me around. When I looked up, I found Charles looked down questioningly at me.

"What was that?"

"Uh," I suddenly became aware of exactly what was happening. The music returned to it's full volume in a matter of seconds, and every bit of the present flew into my head. The present, my own thoughts, and the feeling of Charles' grip on my waist. "Putting a book...a book back. If you don't mind?" I challenged, raising a brow.

"I don't,"

"Then let me go," I ordered. "Please," I added.

Instead of letting me go Charles leaned in, close enough for me to feel his breath on my cheek.

"Of course," He nearly whispered, before pulling away.

"Thank you very much," I said, sarcasm dripping from my voice. I went over to the shelf, placing the book in its proper spot. "There we go," I commented.

"Miss Walker?" I whipped around at the sound of my surname, which is exactly what he wanted. "Any particular reason you were dancing in the library?"

I cocked my eyebrow at him again, "You're about to laugh, Mr. Xavier, but I don't advise it. I was, you know, dancing because I wanted to. Simple as that. Besides, I love that song," I looked at my list, then sighed at the realization that my next book was out of my reach.

"You seem very at home in a library," Charles commented, sliding his hands into his pockets.

"I grew up in a book store for a while. My Grandfather owned it," I explained, leaving it at that.

"Oh, so you must have read a lot then?"

"Yes, I did," I answered, a faint smile on my lip reminiscing on the memories. "I don't remember much about him since he passed away, but I do remember that he's the first person to introduce me to jazz music," I said, my lips curving into a smile as I folded my list and slid it into my dress pocket. "Speaking of jazz, you know you surprised me Charles. I would have never took you as a jazz lover," I stated, moving along the shelves that filled an entire wall. They were filled with vinyl records of Ella Fitzgerald, Louis Armstrong, Billie Holiday and more.

Charles followed along behind me, "Oh really? What music did you think I liked?" Charles asked, his fingers gliding along his shelf that were filled with books, like the works of Edgar Allen Poe, H.P. Love Craft and Mary Shelly's 'Frankenstein'.

"Classical music, like Mozart and Beethoven," I suggested, spinning around to face him once more.

"Well, allow me to surprise you even more," Charles smirked, moving over to his records shelf.

Charles pulled a record out of the shelf and walked over to the record player, picking the needle up from the vinyl I was playing before removing it from the turntable. He slid the Carmen McRae record I was listening to back into its holder and placed another record onto the turntable. He lowered the needle onto to the record, then the scratch as the needle looked for the opening groove.

I listened to the chords of the piano begin to play, feeling my body sway a little in time with the calming music.

 _"I love you..."_

I instantly recognized the owner of the voice and the song he sang. It was _I Love You For Sentimental Reasons_ by Nat King Cole. I walked towards Charles, my dress, slightly bounced as I glided forward.

 _"...for sentimental reasons..."_

Charles gave me an appreciative smile, and stood holding his hand out to me and bowed, "Miss Walker, may I have the pleasure of this dance?" he asked, I smiled and nodded my head.

Softly, Charles pulled me towards him and wrapped his arm around my back. I placed my hand in his and we began to dance. I was a little surprised at how good Charles could dance as I allowed him to subduedly steer me around the library, he didn't seem like the type.

"Good choice, but why exactly did you chose this record?" I look up into those warm blue eyes and his brown locks that I had sudden urge to to run my hands through.

 _"I hope you do believe me..."_

"Because it reminds me of us, of _you_ ," Charles whispered into my ear. I feel Charles' hand rest on the small of my back and I felt my cheeks up.

I briefly laid my head on his chest, "Stop, you're going to make me blush, even though I can't," I chuckled.

 _"I'll give you my heart..."_

Despite the fact that it didn't seem particularly appropriate considering the pleasantly slow and melodious music Charles spun me away from him. I turned gracefully outward without a problem. Using the momentum produced by the turn I reeled myself back in towards my dance partner. He pulled me in tight and I savored the comforting warmth he sent through me as we continued to dance.

 _"I love you, and you alone were meant for me..."_

My body swayed in time with the music I closed my eyes in the soft, dim lights and savoring the moment. My mind couldn't help but think about the man I was dancing with. Charles was too perfect to be real, it was like God had sculpted him into my vision of the perfect man. Everything he said, everything he did. I'd felt attraction to some men in my past, mainly teenage years and during my undergrad, as was to be expected. Some I'd dated, even kissed, and well...one man had me convinced to give myself to him.

Charles was different though.

 _"Please, give your loving heart to me..."_

My eyes opened to see that Charles was staring down at me shamelessly, both of us lost in each other's eyes. Gradually, I realized that Charles was leaning closer to me in the blink of an eye, our lips were connected.

 _"And say we'll never part..."_

It was a slow, but warm kiss, our lips moved in sync with each other. All of the built-up emotion and tension between us were being let out through this kiss. Charles stopped swaying and wrapped his arms around my body. I deepened the kiss and Charles let out a small pleasurable moan. Although we didn't want this kiss to end, slowly as one minded we slowed the rhythm. When we finally disconnected our lips from each other, the two of us catching our breaths. Our eyes slowly opening together and we shared a shy smile of happiness, no words spoken between us.

Charles' hands rested on my waist. Lifting my hand up and run it through his silky, soft hair before slinging my arms around his neck.

"I love you with all my heart Claudia," he hummed before our lips connected again.

* * *

 _ **AN: And we are at the end of a ridiculously long chapter, I hope you enjoyed it though!**_


	16. Tensions Run High

_**AN: I'm back guys! I went on vacation and wasn't able to work on this chapter like I wanted to. Not to mention when I first wrote this chapter in my rough draft of this story it was different to what I have now, so that was frustrating and I had to rewrite a lot. But without further ado here is Chapter 16.  
**_

* * *

The room that surrounded me was incredibly unfamiliar, the walls were a dark shade of cherry wood and not the serene blue I have in my own bedroom. The sun seeped through the curtains, the light reflecting off the silver tray of empty plates that once had breakfast on it on the table by the window. This didn't look like a bedroom, it appeared more as a hotel room, a five star hotel at that. Large, royal blue satin curtains, a canopy bed with matching bronze and blue comforter to the curtain, and a bronze carpet.

I stretched out, feeling content as I remembered the events of the previous night.

"What happens now?" I asked, shifting my body in a comfortable position.

Charles wrapped his arm around my waist, something I tensed at first but relaxed into. It felt nice to have Charles holding me. I leaned back against his shoulder, wrapping my arms around his.

"What do you mean?" Charles asked backed, starting to play with my fingers.

"Where do we go from this?" I clarified, leaning my head back to look at him.

"I think that we're now a 'couple,' as Raven would put it," Charles chuckled, tucking his chin into my shoulder. "I quite like the sound of that," Charles added, his lips curving into a smile.

"It's funny, I never thought I'd be in a relationship with a white man," I commented, closing my eyes. "Not after James," I breathed out, reopening them.

"No one special in college?" Charles asked curiously, peering down at me.

"There was," I answered, nodding my head. "His name was Benjamin," I remembered. "He treated me well, he didn't run to the nearest exit sign when I revealed that I was a mutant. We dated for a few months, and I thought all was going well..." I trailed off.

"What happened?" Charles questioned.

"He just couldn't take it anymore," I answered, shaking my head.

 _It was a warm day for the spring, as I walked to the park looking around trying to find Ben._ _The park had a few people in it, mainly kids playing over by the baseball diamond or younger kids at the playground. There were a few teens but not many. Then I saw him and made my way to Ben for our outing. Ben Hughes was sitting on a bench off away from everyone by a tree in an olive green button down and brown slacks. I smiled at the sight of him, the green complimented his complexion quite nicely if I do say so myself. I walked up to the black-haired and brown-eyed man._

 _"Hello," I greeted smiling._

 _"Hey," Ben greeted back, but his smile was more nervous then happy and I got a bad feeling in fact I was unintentionally picking up on a few of his emotions and I didn't like what I was feeling._

 _I sat down next to him,_ _"What's wrong?" I asked placing my hand near his._

 _Ben's face fell and took my hand gently. "It's...I...I'm sorry I can't keep doing this," He looked away and I suddenly got a very terrified feeling that he was talking about us dating._

 _That and I sensed that Ben didn't like this either._

 _"But why? I thought...I thought we were happy?"_

 _"I was...for the most part...but Claudia...you're wonderful, but I'm not ready for this," Ben ran a hand through his conk styled hair looking over the park._ _"I'm just not ready to date someone like you...I mean we both know how people treat others that are different, we face it all the time...and...I don't want that to increase tenfold...at least not until I know I can handle it. I figured you would want to be with someone that could be open with you in public," Ben explained lamely.  
_

 _I thought about it, and looking back on it Ben always did act like we were just friends or something in public while we only kissed_ _or anything simple as holding hands, unless we were at each other's rooms or no one else was around._

 _ _"Are you ashamed of me being a mutant? Cause there's nothing wrong with it," There was a hint of anger in my voice, but I didn't care.__

 _"I...I don't know...that's one of the reasons I don't want us to get to serious and...there's another reason,"_

 _"What?" I asked him, I was sensing something from him but I wasn't sure. "Come on, I know there's something that's really bothering you so what is it!"_

 _"That's it!" Ben exclaimed. "I hate the fact you know what I'm feeling all the time...it's creepy! I mean I don't want my emotions known," Ben explained, throwing his hands up._

 _"I can't help it! I mean I'm still learning how to keep my barriers up, I don't mean to this isn't easy for me either you know!" I snapped slightly raising my voice, and feeling my eyes water up._

 _Ben looked at me in sympathy, "I know, I know, you've told me and I wish you didn't have to go through all that and that you had control...but it feels like an invasion of privacy to me...I...I just can't handle it. You know how much of a private and shy person I am and this...this just makes me feel uncomfortable, I'm sorry I don't mean to make this sound horrible I'm trying not to I really am...but I can't," Ben repeated sadly._

 _I could feel the emotions running off of Ben and knew he was hurting just as much as I was and I tried to shut off the surge of emotions, but I was having trouble doing so._

 _"So...you don't ever want to see me again," I stated coldly._

 _"No, I didn't say that...I just can't date you...at the moment. I thought I was ready, but I'm not. I'm just not ready,"_

Charles softly placed his hand on the side of my face and captured my lips with his own. A shudder went through me as I was snapped out of my memory, but I smiled into it, kissing him back. Charles' hands traveled down my waist and flipped me over to fully face him, pulling me on top of him. The two of us continued kissing until he pulled away for a short moment. Charles stared at me, moving a lock of hair from my face simultaneously caressing my cheek.

"His loss, love," Charles declared, pressing a kiss to my head causing my smile to widen further.

"I'd better take the tray down," I sighed, wiggling my way out of Charles grip.

"Or you could just stay here if you'd like," Charles suggested tightening his grip around my waist.

"Easy, tiger," I laughed at his forwardness, softly pushing his hands off my waist.

"Maybe next time, then?" Charles questioned, releasing me so I could stand up.

"Oh, there's a next time?" I asked, making Charles flash me a grin. "Next time," I agreed, lifting the heavy, silver tray from the table and walked across the room.

I opened the door with a flick of my hand and walked out, a cold draft rushed through from the open window in the hallway, making my body shiver. As I closed the door behind me, I heard footsteps coming toward my direction. I saw Erik down the hall, his blue eyes completely fixated on me, standing outside the door of Charles' bedroom. Erik shut the door to his own room, my pulse began to pound furiously within me as Erik came toward my direction.

"Good morning Erik!" I greeted cheerily, attempting trying to break the awkward silence.

Erik responded by sending me a frosty glare and something akin to a scowl, as he walked past me without a word. I released a breath I had no idea I was holding in. Erik clearly knew something was going on, but chose not to say anything outright.

Today was going to be interesting.

~~~x~~~

From the distance I could see Erik and Charles talking amicably, but their body language told a different different story. While Charles body was relaxed, Erik's was tense and rigid.

"Ah, Claudia it is nice to see you have joined us!" Charles chirped as he came over to me.

His hand quickly found mine while his other hand rested on my lower back and led me closer to the table that he had set up with a pigeon thrower next to some clay disks.

I moved away from Charles and ran my hand along the table, "What do we have here?" I asked, studying the equipment on the table.

From the corner of my eye I saw Erik staring at me, maybe he was waiting for me to return his gaze. I don't think he was too pleased at how relaxed Charles was when he took ahold of me. It probably had something to do with the fact that yesterday Erik also held me similarly. If he only knew what his touch did to me. I tried very hard to not look at Erik and concentrated my attention on Charles.

"Well, I figured since your already adept at your telekinesis I'm not going to ask you to move a pen, or a book. It seems that you have grasped the notion of moving small and large items and have expanded on this. The shield you created, is an example of this," Charles explained, now beside him again I crossed my arms over the grey sweatshirt I had changed into. "So, I thought some target practice would do you some good. The energy you use for your telekinesis can be molded and projected into various forms," Charles continued.

"So what? Skeet shooting?" I guessed, looking around for the rifles. "Where are the rifles?" I asked, furrowing my brow.

"Skeet shooting with a twist, Claudia," Charles corrected, moving in front of me. Charles grabbed both my hands and lifted them up to eye level. "You don't need a rifle love, your hands are more than enough," Charles reminded, letting go of my hands. "Erik, when you're ready," Charles called, looking over to him as Erik loaded up the trap thrower with a clay disk.

I shook my hands out before lifting them up in front of me as violet aura formed around my hands, "Pull!" I called, Erik fired off a clay skeet. I aimed my hand and fired, a purple bolt hitting the clay skeet, and shattering it.

"Nice shot, Claudia!" Charles smiled, as I dropped my arms.

"Did you ever doubt me?" I laughed, glancing over at Charles.

"Never, I'm just trying to keep your skills sharp," Charles answered, as I raised my arms up again.

"Pull!"

Erik fired off another clay skeet. I aimed my left hand this time and fired off a purple sphere. The sphere from my palm contacted the clay skeet, and it exploded into a little million piece.

"Excellent!" Charles exclaimed again. "Wasn't that fantastic Erik?" Charles asked excitedly.

"Yes, it was a fine shot," Erik replied, a tight smile on his face.

"Thank you, Erik," I said, flashing him a quick smile in an attempt to make things less awkward. It didn't, if anything it just made him shoot an icy glare at me. I darted my eyes away from him and went back to focusing in front of me. "Pull!" I directed, trying to now avoid the metal bender's stare.

The clay skeet sailed through the air, and I aimed my hand at the skeet, and fired.

The skeet then shattered.

~~~x~~~

I collapsed onto the grass off the side of the mansion, my chest heaving. It had been awhile since I had exerted this much physical energy. My lungs were screaming for oxygen and the muscles in my legs and feet were begging for mercy. Not too far behind me was the sound of three thuds falling next to me. I lazily turned my head to the right to see Hank, Sean, and Alex in a similar state of fatigue.

"The...Professor...needs...a...smaller...mansion..." Sean said in between breaths, his face the color of his hair.

A chuckle managed to seep through my gasps for breath, "Nonsense," I called, pushing myself up to rest on my arms. "You just have terrible stamina, Sean," I corrected smiling.

"What did we do to deserve four laps around the mansion?" Alex groaned, before sitting up.

"Hey, your lucky I didn't make y'all run five like I originally planned to," I pointed out.

"She has a point," Hank agreed, copying Alex's movement.

"Shut up Bozo,"

"Now, now. Knock it off," I called in a motherly tone, pushing myself up from the ground, "Alright boys we're done for today," I stated, stretching my arms out over my head. "Last one back at the mansion has to do the others washing for a week!" I announced dashing off towards the mansion.

As I sprinted away from the boys I could hear their cries of displeasure because of my head start towards the mansion. I ran as fast as my legs could carry me, already envisioning not having to do my washing for a week. But the sound shoes nosily slapping the gravel behind me told me that the boys were quickly catching up with me. Suddenly, a flash of red hair surged past me and I looked to my side to see a newly invigorated Sean in the lead of our little race. Sean looked back at me and gave me a wink knowing that he was mere meters away from the back door, but fate would prove otherwise.

Unfortunately for Sean he didn't notice one of the larger rocks that were strewn across the ground and tripped right before the backdoor. I easily sped past him and reached my hand out touching the door first panting heavily, but with a smile on my face. Hank and Alex followed shortly behind me just as I opened the backdoor, I looked back to see Sean dusting himself off and slowly heading to the door.

"So close, yet so far," I commented, slightly laughing as I held the door open for Sean.

"Very funny Claudia," Sean replied dryly, as he entered the mansion.

"Aren't I?" I quipped, closing the door. I walked beside Sean as we made our way down the hall and towards the kitchen. "Come on, you gotta admit it was a little funny," I suggested, pinching my finger close together.

Sean smirked at me, "Alright, it was a _little_ funny," Sean agreed, nodding his head as we stepped into the kitchen.

"By the way I'm going to enjoy watching you do my washing this week!" I informed, mirth simply rolling off me.

I went straight for the cabinets where the cups were stored so I could quench my thirst, if I didn't get something to drink I was sure to die from a dry mouth. On my way to the cabinet I lightly hit Alex on his leg.

"Get off the counter, you're all sweaty and disgusting," I stated, walking past him and onto the cabinet.

"Yes, _mom_ ," Alex said mockingly, sliding off the counter.

"Be like Hank, he sitting in a chair at the table," I pointed out, a grin appearing on my face as I opened the cabinet door.

Reaching on my tiptoes I grabbed a cup and went to the sink to pour myself a glass of water. After I took a deep, long gulp out of water I hastily wiped my mouth with the back of my hand. Just as I went to put my glass down onto the counter Erik and Raven had walked through the doorway of the kitchen, Raven was clinging onto his arm with a grin on her face which made me raise an eyebrow. Erik mirrored Raven's expression as if they were just laughing from a joke he told before coming in here, but as soon the two of them saw me their grins vanished.

It was as if a black hole had opened in the room, sucking in all the warmth, leaving cold and emptiness. What was once a friendly atmosphere turned tense and uncomfortable. I looked at Erik and I could feel an angry bitterness swirling beneath his calm demeanor.

"What were you two doing?" I asked, breaking the silence that had blanketed over the room.

"Erik and I were training," Raven answered simply, and I just gave a nod also noting that Erik still hasn't said a word to me. I lifted my glass back to my lips to take a sip of water and just as I went to swallow Raven spoke again. "He was teaching me the best way to use my body while in combat. He said that I was quite the challenge," Raven continued, with a challenging glint in her eyes.

I nearly choked on my water and subtly spit out my drink back into cup due to the innuendo that Raven made. I set down my water, my eyes flashing dangerously and resentment coiled like a small little snake in my chest, I was getting too worked up. And then a sudden realization hit me, oh dear God. I was jealous. I know that I needed to calm down, but I couldn't hold my tongue.

"How surprising," I began, staring right at Raven. "I've always known him to like everything nice and _easy_ ," I quipped, arching my brow in response to her challenging stare.

If looks could kill, Raven would have butchered me right then and there, as she visibly flushed before turning stony and a glint of hate appearing in her eyes.

"Let's go Erik," Raven ordered, storming out the kitchen and dragging Erik along.

The silence in the kitchen was deafening, you could hear a pen drop. I looked at the shocked faces of the boys that remained in the kitchen, all of their mouths forming an 'o' shape from witnessing what just transpired.

"We're going to pretend the last five minutes _never_ happened," I stated, before taking a sip of water.

~~~x~~~

I sighed and fell on my queen-sized bed after changing into a fresh t-shirt and sweatpants. I snuggled against the coolness of the pillows, my body relaxing against the softness of the bed. I cherished the silence in my room letting my eyes drift close as I prepared to meditate. All was well, I was at peace as my chest rose and fell with each breath I took. That was until my thoughts felt clouded and muddled, my heart flooded with a myriad of emotions, spinning in a thousand different directions. A sudden spike of self-loathing and reproach plowed through me, and returned me back into reality, trying to sort out my emotions.

I had to lower my barriers to pick apart my own feelings. A wave of uncertainty, affection, and fear sent my mind spinning. Sweat beaded my brow. I felt even normal emotions with an unnatural strength, but these threatened to render me unconscious. From somewhere below me, I stumbled out the bed wearily stood and headed toward the strangling emotions.

Being the empath that I was, I responded to those emotions even as they tried to block them out. I ventured outside my room. It was quiet in the hallway, however as I came closer to the staircase I heard a faint sound of piano keys. The melody was quiet at first but then it began to escalate further up. A crescendo and then it began to descend as I came down the stairs.

Claire de Lune.

The music did not stop as I almost stumbled down the last stair to see where the music was coming from. I finally reached the sound and slightly pushed open the door to see Erik completely engrossed in the music. I could not quite see his face because he was looking down at the keys. My heart began to race within my chest as he continued to play oblivious to me watching him. Without warning, the melody was gone and instead all I heard was a slam of keys. My head snapped up to see Erik staring right at me.

He didn't look too happy.

"I'm sorry," I whispered as I turned around to head out, but before I could reach for the door knob the door slammed shut right before me.

"Why are you here?" His voice was menacing as he stood from the bench.

My stomach flipped as he came closer to me, "I...I heard the music," I stammered, before I cleared my throat. "And I felt a spike of emotion from my room. You could kill an empath without ever coming closer than six feet, you know that, Erik?" I quipped, trying to lighten the tense atmosphere.

"Shouldn't you be with _him_? Shouldn't you be with Charles?" Erik asked, spitting out Charles' name like it was venom.

I lowered my head slightly and raised an eyebrow, "What's that supposed to mean?" I questioned, placing my hands on my hip.

"You know exactly what that means! I saw the two of you last night! Cautiously I moved back to the wall as he inched closer and closer. He prowled toward me as if I was his prey. "The two of you dancing, _kissing_?" Erik hissed as he had me cornered.

A chuckle of disbelief bubbled me and that only made Erik angrier, "If all you wanted was a dance with me, then you should've just asked," I pointed out simply, my playful expression vanished when Erik slammed both his hands down on the wall behind me, literally trapping me.

"Is everything a game to you?" Erik hissed.

"Depending on the situation," I answered, cocking an eyebrow and Erik's anger rose even more, which almost suffocated me. "You're angry at me, that much is clear. As to why, I'm not sure," I said, shrugging my shoulders.

"What more do you want from me to do? Get down on my knees and confess it! Erik stared at me, emotion churning inside him.

"So, you admit it?" I could no longer keep my facial expression neutral and a small triumphant smile appeared on my lips. I ducked from underneath from Erik's arms and laughed. "Finally!" I laughed, closing my eyes and spinning around. "Oooh, Mr. Lehnsherr, is that resentment I feel burning in your chest?" I giggled, twirling once more.

The shock that radiated from Erik caused me to open my eyes again to look at the German. Erik was staring at me in astonishment, before Erik lurched forward and two strong calloused hands closed over my arm and my mind was flooded with emotion one particular emotion, anger.

"You've been purposefully toying with my emotions this whole time!" Erik growled, his expression livid and his blue eyes ablaze.

I scoffed giving Erik a once-over, "I didn't toy with your emotions. We've been flirtatious with each other since we got to the mansion," I reminded, attempting to free myself.

"So what, your affectionate embrace with Charles last night doesn't qualify as toying with me?" Erik questioned.

I leaned my face closer to Erik's, "No," I answered, pulling my face back smirking and Erik narrowed his eyes at me. "If you wanted to kiss me you had your opportunity yesterday in the woods," I pointed out. "If you wanted to kiss me then you should've of been a man about it and pulled me back when I went to walk away," I continued, lifting a finger to his chest. "Because you wanted to kiss me...just as badly as I wanted to kiss you," I admitted, watching the anger in his eyes briefly eclipsed as he processed what I had told him and his grip slackened.

I held his gaze a little longer, my brown eyes meeting his blue, "But you chose to pursue Charles' affection over mine. Why?" Erik asked.

"Because Charles didn't shy away from me," I answered, staring at him.

"That can be corrected," Erik remarked.

"Oh really," I retorted, cocking my head to the side, before I freed my self from his grasp and pulled away. "Erik, do you want to know another reason why I pursued Charles?" I asked, walking backwards slowly.

"I am all ears Claudia," Erik responded sarcastically.

"Charles has never been insincere with me, he's never tried to manipulate me," I explained, continuing to move away from Erik and ending up on the other side of the room. "I never had to second guess what his motives were," I added.

"Oh, this again?" Erik asked annoyed, frustration joining the list of emotions that emanated from Erik.

"Yes, this again!" I repeated. "That stunt Raven pulled in the kitchen earlier," I recalled. The way you let her cling onto your arm with that hopeful gaze in her eyes. Your using her massive school girl's crush on you against her," I explained, folding my arms together.

"Claudia, you would think so low of me?" Erik questioned, sliding his hands into his pockets.

"No, I just know the wicked games men can play," I answered simply, staring into his eyes searching for signs of deceit.

"Claudia, you are an assertive and observant woman, but I'm afraid you'll find no mastermind schemes here," Erik assured with a smirk that said he wasn't going to give away a thing. "You can take my word," Erik added.

I turned on my heel my back facing Erik, "I am going to need _a lot_ more than just your word, Erik," I replied with the same light tone and slight smirk.

"And what do you suggest, Miss Walker?" Erik asked right into my ear, his chest pressed up against my back.

I bit down seductively on my bottom lip, "How about you do what you were to afraid to do yesterday, Mr. Lehnsherr," I suggested, pushing off his chest and spinning around to face him. "I'll have you know second chances like this don't come by often," I breathed, staring up at him.

The two of us were so close to each other, Erik gently grabbed my face and tilted it up and as he leaned closer my heart felt like it was going to explode out of my chest. My eyes slid shut and I waited to finally feel his lips, all our flirting and dancing around each other finally leading to this. I felt breathing against my lips and then I feel a slight pressure...but then there was a loud slam.

"Erik, Charles is looking for...you..." Raven trailed off.

I turned my head away feebly in an attempt to not show that Erik were about to kiss. I lifted my hands swiftly, palms facing outwards, softly pushing Erik away from me.

Erik, continued to stare at me, "Fine," He growled and moved away from me. I watched him as he ran his hand through his fine brown hair.

I nodded as I dared not look back at the man who had my heart pounding against my chest furiously.

* * *

 _ **AN: And we're finally here at the end of the chapter. Strangely, I don't feel like this is my best chapter, but maybe it's just my anxiety and me being overly self critical. Anyways, I hoped you enjoyed this chapter at least.**_

 _ **P.S. As soon as I went to upload this chapter the power went out in my whole neighborhood and I just thought that was hilarious considering the timing.**_


	17. Everything Falls into Place

_**AN: Since it took me so long to update the last chapter I thought that it's only right to upload this chapter a bit quicker.**_

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I was thankful when the sun began to rise. I stared at the slowly rising sphere through the window of my room. I usually would never have risen so early under any normal circumstances, but my stomach was still in knots after my encounter with Erik last night. I placed both of my hands on my face before dragging them slowly down.

How could I be falling for two different men?

I shook my head and slipped out of bed, I made my way to the grand window facing the bed and pulled the curtains all the way back, my gaze immediately falling on the grassy estate the house was built on before shifting to the sky. I would spend the next few hours watching the big ball of fire rise in the sky, the colors of the horizon turning from red to pink to orange.

Taking a deep breath, I silently padded downstairs to the kitchen for a cup of tea to soothe my head. Too many questions clouded my mind as I stepped down the last step of the massive staircase. Just ahead of me I could hear footsteps of someone going towards the kitchen and I silently followed.

"Good morning Erik," a voice greeted, a voice that was all too familiar to me.

It was _mine_.

I pressed my back against the wall and peeked my head into the kitchen. Raven looked away suddenly turning to fetch something from the cupboard. That's when I realized Erik was dressed only in his grey sweatpants. I placed my hand on my throat and rubbed it as it suddenly felt drier than it already was.

"Good morning, Claudia," Erik waltzed over to the cupboard "I" was seemingly searching intently through while Erik stood intimidatingly above "my" form. "I" rose turning toward Erik "my" eyes the size of saucers. He trapped "me" with his arms against the counter, leaning his head to purr in "my" ear. "Now, what would you like for breakfast" Erik questioned, and "I" visibly swallowed.

"I" closed the distance between us and kissed Erik hard on the lips. And it was at that moment, I knew Erik didn't even have to wait for her to return to her original form for him to know.

"Leave now Raven!" Erik spat at her.

"But how did you-" She started frightened from Erik's outburst.

"You think I'm stupid! There's no way Claudia would have easily kissed me like that. She would at least make me work for it!" he snapped angrily.

I drew my head back in just as I heard the slapping of bare feet on the floor running past me. Raven didn't even spare me a glance, probably because she's too busy wallowing in her shame. I pushed off the wall and leaned against the door frame, Erik's back was facing me as his head was down and hands spread apart from each other on the counter. I couldn't tell if he was aware of my presence or not.

"Well, dreams do come true," I began, breaking the silence and watched as Erik's back tensed up. "You finally got that kiss you wanted from me," I quipped, folding my arms together.

~~~x~~~

I walked down the stone steps which led to the front door, my skirt swishing as I moved down to the gravel path. I felt people looking at me from across the lawn, my own eyes trained on the clear blue sky. I looked down and saw Sean and Hank were with Charles; the latter of the two waving as I swore Raven was looking at me from the parlor window, glaring. I waved back at Hank and Sean, and walked towards the three men, smiling at the embarrassed teen in particular as he nervously shifted his feet.

Hank had his shoes off.

I peered over the top of my cat eyed tortoise-shell sunglasses, I found myself smiling as I witnessed his large, very un-human-like feet. I pushed my sunglasses slightly down on my nose so that I could see his odd mutation without the brown tint from the lenses.

The smile widened on my face, "Your feet are incredible!" Hank seemed to relax at my enthusiasm and Charles smiled right along with me. I moved in front of Hank and placed both of my hands on Hank's shoulders. "Alright, Hank, you have to beat Charles. Because we'll never hear the end of it, if you don't," I reminded, before looking over to Charles who grinned at my comment. As they stood at the starting line of the makeshift racecourse they had set up.

Hank chuckled and smiled down at me, "I'll try my best, Claudia,"

"If you wanna beat me this time, you have to set the beast free. On your marks. Get set. Go!" Charles said, before he and Hank took off running.

Both bolted from the starting line, but it was only a few seconds before Hank started to leave Charles behind in the dust. Hank raced ahead, passing the finish line before Charles was a third of the way there. Hank passed him again and completed and finished the lap in a mater of minutes.

"Congratulations my friend! Robert Louis Stevenson would have been proud," Charles cheered, clapping Hank on the back.

"Impressive, Hank. Feet like those, all you need is a red nose. Right Bozo?" Alex said as he walked by.

Hank's smile disappeared instantly, "I'm done here," He stalked off towards the mansion.

"Thank you, Alex," Charles sighed, disappointment evident in his voice.

I crossed my arms and shook my head, narrowing my eyes at the blonde walking away from us. Suddenly, Alex let out a sharp cry of pain and placed his hand on his side, causing me to smirk.

Charles glanced at me, "Did you-" Charles began.

"Why Charles I'm just as confused as you are," I interjected, smiling at him.

~~~x~~~

The midday sun beamed down on the five of us standing on top of the satellite, looking down at the ground below. Sean was dressed in his wings courtesy of Hank who had just finished adjusting the straps. Charles stood looking at the ground far down below not saying a word. Unconsciously, I felt myself begin to rock back and forth on the balls of my feet, feeling a wave of nervousness wash over me. I abruptly stopped rocking and turned my head to look at Sean, who was looking paler than usual and was also the source of my sudden nervousness.

"God Sean, would you relax? It's infectious," I sighed, pushing my hair behind my ear. "We cannot do the task at hand when your mind is racing with hundreds of scenarios of what could go wrong," I explained, moving closer to him.

"You truly believe I'll fly this time?" Sean asked while looking down to the ground as we were on top of the satellite.

Charles nodded, "Unreservedly,"

Sean ran a hand through his thick red mop of hair before looking back to Charles, "I trust you," he breathed out, looking back at the ground.

Charles smiled, "I'm touched,"

Sean then turned to Hank, and proceeded to point directly at Hank, "I don't trust him," That caused me to breathe out a laugh. Hank looked taken aback by Sean's words as he opened his mouth.

Charles held a hand up and ordered, "Say nothing," Hank remained silent, but scowled silently at Sean.

Charles leaned against the railing and quickly glanced to Hank and then at Sean again.

Sean began gesturing wildly at the ground, "I'm gonna die!" he exclaimed, clearly reaching a point where he was beyond desperate to get off of the satellite, it was after all a long way down.

"You're not going to die, Sean! If you fail to fly, I can just get you before you hit the ground," I assured, while giving his back a reassuring rub.

"Wow you should be a motivational speaker," Sean responded sarcastically.

"Or I could just let you fall," I reminded, my tone snippy as I snatched my hand off his back.

Charles sighed, a bit disappointed, but patted Sean's arm, "Look, we're not going to make you do anything you don't feel-"

Erik looked to me and I quirked a brow, wondering what he was about to do.

Erik rolled his eyes before taking a step forward, "Here, let me help," Erik offered, with those final words, Erik put a hand on Sean's shoulder and gave him a firm shove off the platform and into the open air. Sean let out a startled yell as he began to fall.

"Erik!" Charles protested, looking at his friend despairingly, while I couldn't help but grin.

The four of us watched as Sean let out a high-pitched scream, visible sound waves hitting the ground and sending the red head flying through the air. A moment later, an ecstatic whoop came from the general direction as Sean shot up, high above the satellite, before diving back down, passing the platform where he had been moments before.

As Sean's ecstatic whoops and laughter hit all of us, I just watched the redhead and shook my head in disbelief.

Charles shot Erik a look, and the metal-controlling mutant only smirked, "What? You know you were thinking the same," Erik smiled defending himself, while behind us Sean went about sailing through the air.

~~~x~~~

"Charles, I don't like this at all!" A sultry yet angry voice protested.

I glanced up from playing with the charm of my necklace to see that a door was slightly opened. I peeked through the small opening to see Raven and Charles standing around the sitting area. The warmth of the study managed to find its way out into the cold hallway.

"Raven, don't you think you're overreacting just a bit about Claudia?" Charles sighed, running a hand through his hair. "I thought you two were friends?" Charles asked confused, sticking his hand out.

"Don't you think you're underreacting, Charles?!" Raven countered angrily throwing her hands up. "Charles, stop it, she's ruining everything! She's dangerous! She's abusing her powers to make everyone like her. And I guess that wasn't enough for her, then she decided it would be nice to get cozy with _you_ and _Erik_. But I guess you wouldn't notice because you heed her every beck and call-"

"Raven that's enough!" The telepath said sharply, glaring. "She has not monopolized me any more than you do, and to even suggest that her intentions are as wicked as you make them out to be is insulting for the both of us. I-"

Something within me rose with immense courage that made me push open the door. The slight creak made them both turn their eyes toward me. I felt as if I was lit on fire as each of their stares were intense, I stepped further into the room without hesitation.

"Was that jealousy I just heard?" I thought aloud, interlocking my hands behind my back.

"I am not jealous!" Raven spat, bawling her hands up and stomping her foot.

" _Right_ , and I'm not a mutant either," I retorted, rolling my eyes. I shook my head while making a tsking sound. "You know Raven, I'm surprised you didn't pull the same stunt you did this morning," I stated coolly, staring back at her.

"What stunt?" Charles asked, eyes bouncing between the two of us.

I ignored Charles and continued looking at Raven, who by now had an expression of frustration adorning her pretty face.

"My, my, Raven is that what you truly think of me?" I asked curiously, tilting my head to the side. "You truly don't know me," I stated, shaking my head and placed my hands on my hip.

"I know _exactly_ who you are," Raven spat. "You monopolized everyone in this house and now you've reduced my brother and Erik to lovesick idiots," It felt as if she was holding her tongue and she finally felt that she was able to release.

"Listen," I began, my tone calculated. "I know what I do. I know what happens to people when I use my abilities. I've been living with it all my life," I turned to Charles who nodded in reassurance. "Now, I hate to sound like a bitch, but Raven you cannot keep taking your insecurities out on me. Raven, if you just needed someone to talk to, you could've came to me. I was once in your shoes,"

"Bullshit, when have you ever faced adversity for your appearance!?"

"Since the day I was _fucking_ born!" I replied sharply, my voice loaded with bitter anger. "Listen Raven, I'm going to do what I was recruited for and then I'll be on my merry way," I continued at the same voice I first started at, tense and only slightly raised. "Now, I'm deeply sorry that I made you feel as if I was ruining everything, but Raven the next time you want to get mad about your appearance, direct that anger to the man above for making you this way, not me," I finished, shaking my head.

Raven scoffed and merely looked at me, unsure if she should continue glaring or feel ashamed. I didn't want either. I just wanted everything to be normal again like when we first came to the mansion, but it wasn't. I was quite at a loss of what to do to maybe remedy this, Charles just shot me a look saying it would all be fine. I knew it wouldn't. I turned on my heel and made my way out of the room, shaking my head again and letting out a sigh. Mutants aren't that different from humans, we're really one in the same. We both feel hate, greed, joy, anger, jealously...

It's just what's on the outside that differentiates us.

~~~x~~~

Once again we were practicing with the chest plate Hank made for Alex. The four of us were all down in the bunker, Charles and I were setting up a single mannequin on one side of the bunker like we had before. I made a large X on the middle of the mannequin with black tape and stood next to the mannequin alongside Charles while Hank helped Alex into the chest plate.

"Raven feels awful about what happened earlier," Charles murmured, so I only I could hear.

"Hmm, does she though?" I questioned, smoothing out the black tape and not looking up at him. "Or are you just saying that on her behalf," I wondered.

"She really does," Charles answered. "Look, Raven has been worried about her appearance even before we met you," Charles explained softly.

"Still doesn't give her the right to take her insecurities on me. I did nothing to her, but exist," I stated, finally meeting Charles gaze.

"And you're absolutely right, I'm sorry," Charles apologized sincerely, and I just nodded my head. Charles cleared his throat. "Alright Alex I want you to hit the X, but try not to hit me or Claudia" Charles told Alex with no fear in his voice what-so-ever.

"You're serious?" Alex asked, sounding worried.

"He's very serious, I'm afraid," I began. "Alex, if you mess up my face, consider your days numbered," I threatened, with a straight face and I could see Alex visibly swallow and pale. "But hey, no pressure right? You can do it Alex," I told him, before flashing him a smile.

Alex looked reluctant but clenched his fists together and shot out a red beam towards the mannequin hitting it right on. Charles and I quickly darted away from the mannequin after it caught on fire and I directed my view over towards Alex. He began laughing and had the biggest, goofiest smile on his face. Swatting away the smoke, I couldn't help but smile as well after seeing him so happy.

And that he also didn't split me in half.

"Am I still a bozo?" Hank called out to him.

"Yes Hank, you're still a bozo," Alex yelled back. "But, nice job," he smiled.

My smile widened, oh God he couldn't just let Hank win could he?

"Well that's enough training for today," Charles said patting Alex on the back. Hank and Alex left the bunker leaving the two of us alone, Charles pulled me into him wrapping his arms around me and planted a kiss to my temple. "Tell me how I can rectify the last hour for you?" Charles asked, running his fingers up and down my side.

"I don't know, I guess-" I began, but stopped mid-sentence when I saw Charles' arm. There was a slight burn wound located on his forearm. "Charles you're hurt," I announced, concern evident in my voice. I unwrapped myself from his embrace and showed him his arm. "Must been one of the embers from the explosion," I observed, scanning for any other burns. "Come on, let's get this cleaned up," I said, grabbing his hand.

"I'm surprised I didn't feel it," Charles stated looking down at his wound, as I led him out of the bunker.

"Thank god for adrenaline, right?" I smiled, walking to the small first story bathroom.

Charles sat on top of the lid of toilet as I finished dabbing the small burn wound and carefully capped the bottle of saline. I grabbed a roll of gauze that was on the sitting on the sink. I unrolled it slightly before wrapping it around Charles' outstretched forearm, Charles sat there watching me attentively. My every movement seemed precisely centered. I was concentrating with every fiber of my being, feeling some deep, unnamed unease that wasn't coming from myself.

"Claudia," Charles' smooth voice cut through the thick silence.

"Yes," I answered, looking up from my work.

"Do you have feelings for Erik?" Charles asked, making my hands falter and it nearly caused me to drop the whole roll of gauze. "I was thinking back on what Raven said earlier, she said that you made Erik and I both lovesick fools," Charles recalled.

I finished wrapping the gauze around his arm snipping off the last piece of gauze, "No," I answered, gathering the medical supplies up and moving gracefully to put them back in the medicine cabinet. I made my back to Charles and sat down on his lap, Charles immediately wrapped his arms on my waist. "I won't say that the man is not handsome, but no Charles. I don't have feelings for Erik," I smiled reassuringly, which seemed to relieve Charles and he planted a soft kiss on my lips.

But it did nothing to relieve me, it felt as if my heart was stuck in my throat as I picked apart my feelings for the two men.

~~~x~~~

I pushed the door to the parlor open before moving over to the window, I was about to shout to Charles and Erik to come in to watch the news, while Sean went to get Hank and Moira. But just as I opened my mouth to call to them I saw Erik turn and focus in on the gargantuan satellite dish that was at least a mile away. In fascination I watched as it started groaning and then as he turned his half-fisted hand the satellite turned towards us.

"Amazing," I murmured to myself with a smile both he and Charles started laughing. Sensing that the training session was over I called out. "Hey!" I caught their attention, both turning to face me. "You might want to see this! The president's about to make his address!" Quickly, Charles patted Erik on the shoulder and jogged off towards the door, while Erik looked back to the satellite. "Nice work by the way. It was impressive!" I smiled at Erik and moved back in the room and stepped up beside Alex and the rest trickled in, gathering around to watched President Kennedy's speech on the Cuban Missile Crisis.

"...Third: It shall be the policy of this nation to regard any nuclear missile crossing the embargo line that surrounds Cuba as an attack by the Soviet Union on the United States, requiring a full retaliatory response upon the Soviet Union..."

"That's where we're going to find Shaw," Erik gestured to the TV.

Alex turned to look at him and he shook his head, "How do you know?" Alex questioned.

I bit my lip and readjusted myself on the couch. "Two super powers facing off? He wants to start World War Three, Alex. He won't leave anything to chance..." I explained grimly.

"So much for diplomacy," Erik scoffed and then turned to us. "I suggest you all get a good nights sleep,"

Taking a deep breath I looked over my four younger teammates before turning back to the TV, listening to the speech.

So, this is how it all ends.

* * *

 _ **AN: Can't believe I'm saying this, but guys we're nearing the end of this story! Hoped you liked this chapter!**_


	18. The Night Before

_**AN: Hope you enjoy this chapter, you would not believe how much I procrastinated trying to write this thing.  
**_

* * *

Dinner was a grim, silent affair, tomorrow is the big day. We fly to Cuba, and try to save the world. But what happens then? I pushed my nearly full plate away and excuse myself from the dining room. In truth, I am starving, but anything I eat doesn't stay down for long. It keeps coming back up. I decided to get some fresh air, and hopefully that would clear my head. I put my plate back into kitchen, Charles had offered to accompany me, but I kindly declined with the of excuse needing time to think by myself. He understood completely and gave me my space.

I found myself at the doors of the deck. It was a stone structure and had steps leading down onto a gravel path that continued straight into the garden, and wrap around the house as well. The deck itself had a table and chairs, along with a couple of tastefully placed flower pots. I eyed an old key that was already stuck in the door and turned it, pushing the mahogany slab open as I slipped out of the building.

The fresh air felt nice against my warm skin and I let my eyes slide shut, allowing the cool night air to wash over me, breathing in deeply to calm my nerves.

"For the longest time I had nightmares about the things Shaw did to me," I jumped at the sudden lush, velvet like voice emerging out of nowhere. "It took awhile, but they finally stopped after I came to terms with my mother's death, and the things he did," he said, as he came and stood next to me as we looked out the sprawling greenery before us.

"And here we are, on the eve of coming face to face with Shaw," I said, gripping the stone railing. "I know you've been waiting for this moment for a long time Erik," I continued, feeling his eyes on me.

"I have," Erik agreed, with a nod of his head. A silence fell between us and my mind began to wonder about tomorrow again. "Tell me Claudia," Erik started, and I turned my head to look at him. "What did you feel after Professor Lewis' death?" Erik asked

"Relief," I answered truthfully. "A sense of relief. He couldn't hurt me any longer," I stated, breathing in the night air whipping around us once more. "Is that what you want Erik? Relief?" I questioned, cautiously sliding my hand over to Erik's. "Peace?" I uttered softly, hesitating but then placed my hand on top of his.

The instant our hands touched, I saw into his mind, his pain.

 _"I can't do it, Herr Schmidt. I'm so sorry," a little boy whimpered, bruised and bloody._

 _He stood in front of a man, his body swaying. His face was gaunt, tears rolled silently down his cheeks. The man sighed, shaking his head and letting out a tsking sound before slapping him hard across the face. The boy stumbled into the wall, pain rocking through him. P_ _ressure. Anguish. Anger. Grief. Rage. Helplessness. Despair. Everything mixed into one, and he couldn't stop it..._

I exited Erik's mind, lifting my head and locking my eyes with his, "There is so much pain," I muttered pursing my lips, my heart ached, as I had felt the pain he had felt once upon a time.

"You know what I must do tomorrow Claudia," Erik whispered, and I looked down at our hands.

"Yes, I do," I answered, slowly moving away from him.

I removed my hand from his and decided to head back inside. Before I could take another step, he took hold of my arm. He looked up at me as if he wanted me to stay.

"You told me not to long ago that we would get Shaw, but now you have this disapproving look on your face," Erik commented, as he arched his perfect brow.

"I don't know...it's just that I have a bad feeling tomorrow," I explained quietly, looking down. "What if-" I began, but stopped when Erik placed his other hand on my cheek, forcing me to look up at him.

My heart beat quickened, I felt like hyperventilating as I met his stare. I wanted to stay, however at the same time I wanted to runaway from the suffocating tension between us.

"What if _what_?" Erik asked curiously.

"What if you kill Shaw and it opens a Pandora's box?" I proposed, my stomach starting to flip due to our closeness, but for the life of me I could not move away from him.

"It won't," Erik assured. "But if it does I'll be there to protect you," Erik added, pushing some of my hair behind my ear.

"How brave of you," I breathed, as he gently grasped my other arm. Erik slowly began leaning into me, my heart began to pound in my chest. "I-I need to go, I think I hear Charles calling me," I excused lamely, pointing behind me.

As if he was stung, he let go of me instantly and quickly looked away. I said something he didn't want to hear. However it was something we both needed and I couldn't blame him nor myself for trying. I walked, nay, I nearly ran away from Erik as I tried to slow my racing heart.

 _"How on earth was I going to stand staying here?"_

~~~x~~~

One hour.

That's how long it's been since I left Erik on the deck alone after another near kiss encounter which was becoming a more frequent occurrence as the days went by. I ran my fingers through my hair, frowning as I walked quickly through the mansion, not wanting to be followed. I had just left the kitchen wanting a glass of water before I headed for my room. While on my silent journey I felt the sudden need to stop as I approached a cracked door, cocking my head slightly I catch a glimpse of what's inside.

"Claudia Walker," Erik announced as he took one swig of his glass filled with clear liquor. My body froze, thinking Erik knew I was outside the door. "Who would've thought she would've been our finest recruit," Erik stated, with a grin revealing his white teeth.

"Well, you do remember the signature I picked up from her, it was incredible," Charles commented smiling. "And I would like to think that we recruited the finest mutants, not just one singular person," Charles added, giving him a pointed look.

"But she is certainly the strongest one out of all of them, you said yourself, remember?" Erik countered, taking one more swig from his glass and set it firmly down on the mantle.

"She is, but I don't want her to let that go to her head," Charles explained, shaking his head.

"Why limit her Charles? She was born with exceptional abilities,"

"Because that would be dangerous, Erik," Charles stated simply. "You and I have both seen what she _has_ done and what she _can_ do," Charles answered, lifting his head to meet Erik's gaze, unsuccessfully hiding what could only have been a guarded reaction.

There was something Charles was unwilling to share, but I could tell Erik was determined to find out what Charles had decided. Hell, so was I.

Erik soon became very serious, as his eyes hardened, "I can't help but wonder if you're helping Claudia because she hasn't wholly met her potential, or if you made the choice for her. Tell me, my friend. What have you done?" Erik questioned, his voice taking on a hard edge.

I pushed the door open and smiled, not wanting the argument to heat up any further, "Evening, gentlemen," I greeted, the two men broke their tense gaze from each other to me. "I hope I'm not intruding, I just wanted some company before I head to my room," I explained, a soft grin on my face.

Charles smiled, "Of course not Claudia, please come in," Charles said, motioning for me to enter and I fully stepped in the room, closing the door behind me. "Erik and I were just about to start a match of chess," Charles stated, glancing over at Erik.

I sat still, my legs curled underneath me eyes watching the flames. Charles and Erik sat at the chessboard, playing in silence the one game Erik had a chance of beating Charles at.

"Cuba," I didn't move as Charles spoke. "Russia. America. What's the difference? Shaw's declared war on mankind; on all of us. He has to be stopped,"

"I'm not gonna stop Shaw, I'm gonna kill him," Erik said, setting his glass down on the table. "Do you have it in you to allow that?" Erik inquired, moving a chess piece. Charles stayed silent, but sat forward on his chair. I had been listening, but chose to look up from my nails and at Erik now, still staying silent. There was a long pause before Erik spoke again. "You've known all along why I was here, Charles, Claudia," He said, looking between the two of us. "But things have changed. What started as a covert mission, tomorrow mankind will know mutants exist. Shaw, us - they won't differentiate. They'll fear us, and that fear will turn to hatred,"

"Not if we stop a war," I piped in, wanting my opinion to be heard. "Not if we can prevent Shaw. Not if we risk our lives doing so," I pointed out.

"Would they do the same for us, Claudia?" Erik asked me, I thought for a moment but said nothing.

"We have it in us to be the better men," Charles chimed in.

"We already are," Erik countered. The was tension building again, I could sense it. Anger flowing between the two men, fueled by this disagreement. "We're the next stage of human evolution, and you said it yourself-"

"No-" Charles tried to interrupt.

"Are you really so naive as to think that they won't battle their own extinction?" Erik asked, keeping his eyes locked on Charles "Or is it arrogance?"

"I'm sorry?" Charles sounding offended.

"After tomorrow, they're gonna turn on us. But you're blinded, because you believe they're all like Moira."

"And you believe they're all like Shaw,"

I wasn't sure what to believe. I knew humans could be kind, Moira and all the human friends I made while growing up were evidence of that. But I knew they could be like Shaw or Professor Lewis as well.

Everyone could.

Charles lowered his voice, "Listen carefully, my friend. Killing Shaw will not bring you peace,"

"Peace was never an option,"

The room became silent once more for a few minutes before Erik stood up and bid us a good night. Charles began packing away the chess board and I turned to the nearest shelf and admire the view. are shelves and shelves of books – most hardback and leather bound. I stroke the supple leather, breathing in the familiar smell. Picking the nearest one of the shelf, I open it on a random page.

"Dickens. One of my favorites, actually," Charles named from behind me. His voice made me jump and the book fell from my hands.

"Jesus," I muttered, bending down to pick it up. I straightened up again and Charles took the book from me, smiling fondly at the cover.

" _Great Expectations_. Have you read it?" I smiled and nodded my head yes. It's really rather wonderful isn't it?" Charles asked, as he put the book back on the shelf. Charles walked further along the shelf until he stopped and pulled a book out of its place. He twisted the book so that I could see the cover. " _Jane Eyre_. Have you read it?"

"Yes I have, although I despise the ending," I commented, with a slight shrug of my shoulders.

He leaned forward in curiosity, mouth curled in a smile, "Why not? It's a beautiful love story,"

I shook my head at his words, "Their relationship is built on lies. Rochester deceives Jane the entire time they know each other, and only gives her the truth when forced to. And then after all of that, she still goes back to him in the end and forgives him for everything he's done," I explained, shaking my head once more.

"Rochester did those things because he wanted to be happy, he lied to Jane because he loved her. Is that so wrong?" Charles countered grinning.

"He kept secrets from her because he was selfish. He hurt her with his obsession for his own personal interest with not a care for Jane's feelings," I pointed out, slowly moving closer to him.

"He learns his lesson in the end,"

"His house burns down. What does that change?" I questioned, arching my brow with a grin on my face.

Momentarily stumped, Charles took the opportunity to change the subject. "Other than to criticize my favorite book, is there something on your mind?"

I smiled at my victory, and walked towards Charles, sighing deeply. I wrapped my arms around his neck, placing my forehead on his chest and letting out another sigh.

Charles chuckled and the vibrations of his laughter tickled my face as his arms immediately wrapped around my waist, "What's the matter love," Charles asked curiously, placing a kiss on the top of my head.

"It's just that...we might _die_ tomorrow, Charles," I said quietly, lifting my head to meet his stare.

Charles held me tighter, burying his nose in my hair, "I won't let that happen," Charles promised, moving his head back to fully look at me.

"You'll be my knight in shining armor?" I chuckled softly, masking the unease I felt because another man made the same proclamation earlier.

" _Always,_ " Charles answered, before swooping down and pressing his lips against mine in a quick kiss. "Now, go get some rest Claudia. We have a big day tomorrow," Charles ordered softly, removing his arms from me.

I nodded, flashing him a smile before I left the room and headed upstairs. I jogged up the stairs and made my down the hallway to my room, just as I turned into the hallway I saw Raven coming out of Erik's room. Naked and blue. My movement faltered for a second, but I played it off as I passed Raven not even looking in her direction. Although, I couldn't mask the flash of hurt in my eyes when my eyes connected with his and Erik was tying to read it. He cocked his head to the side.

I looked at him as I had my hand on my door knob, and he looked back his eyebrows furrowed.

A look of something like realization came over Erik's face. I felt nothing but terror and panic. Erik looked like he was getting prepared to say something but I twisted the knob to the door and the door slammed closed behind me.

~~~x~~~

I was in the shower, letting the scalding water flow around me. Steam filled the bathroom, and I breathed it in deeply, relishing in the smell of the scented soaps I used now. I turned the knob off and stepped out of the shower, wrapping a soft, white towel around me. I opened the door to the bathroom and the steam came rolling out as I pulled my shower cap off and tossed it on the sink counter. I moved into the bedroom and towards the bed, sticking my hand underneath my pillow I felt a silky piece of material and pulled it out completely revealing my nightgown.

I unwrapped the towel from my body and threw it on the bed before slipping on the purple nightgown. Scooping my towel back up I walked back to my bathroom, and hung my towel to dry when I heard a knock at my bedroom door, causing me to frown.

 _"It's almost 11:00 p.m. What could anyone possibly need at this hour?" I thought._

I approached the door slowly, frowning as I picked up my matching silk robe and slipped it on. I opened the door and I found myself relieved and annoyed.

"I would say this is becoming an increasing habit for you, but you just missed me taking a shower," I quipped, tying my robe closed.

"May I come in?" Erik asked quietly, and I stood aside to let him in and closed the door after him. He stood on the far side of the room, looking out my window. His back was to me. I couldn't see his face. "I kissed her," Erik announced.

I slowly clapped, "Congratulations, I guess," I replied, not really sure how to respond. Nothing had happened between Erik and I. I couldn't pretend _I didn't_ want something to happen. "She's comfortable in her own skin, I guess you opened her eyes," I remarked. "Is it my turn now?" I asked mockingly, crossing my arms.

He turned around, "I don't want her,"

I dropped my pretenses, "I know. But you don't exactly want me either, not truly," I remarked, beginning to pace up and down my room. I shook my head, " _Men_ ," I scoffed, feeling Erik's eyes on me. "All of you, just interested in my abilities," I continued, sticking my hand out. "First Professor Lewis, and now you and Charles, the three of you trying to decide how I should use _my_ abilities," I said, letting out a short, mirthless laugh as my pacing came to a stop. Erik had taken a small step toward me and I lifted one finger telling him not to go any farther. "Erik, I want you to listen and listen well, men have tested me before and they've all met an unpleasant end," I finished, with a warning tone.

Erik blinked, "My god, you're magnificent," he chuckled letting a small smile adorn his sharp features. "You're not even using your power and you could have me wrapped around your finger," Erik commented, still grinning.

"Stop it," He was trying to distract me. "I'm not going to fall for your honeyed words. Matter of fact, I don't think you've buttered up anyone else in the mansion like you done with me," He didn't say anything. "Sean? Hank?" He looked away. "I didn't think so," I scoffed, crossing my arms.

He looked back up at me, "They don't want to see the world for what it is. You and Raven, you both have so much potential,"

"So what, sweet talk us until we see things your way?" I questioned incredulously.

"Raven needed to know she's beautiful the way she born," He explained, walking towards me. "Say the word and I'll tell her everything,"

I could feel his words, they were intoxicating, "You just want me for my power..." I hesitated, taking a small step back. "So that I can mold the world in your vision," I finished, finding it harder to breathe with the way Erik was staring at me.

Erik was closer now, "Yes, but that doesn't mean I don't want _you_ ," Erik whispered.

We stood there looking at each other. Erik lurched forward and grabbed me around the waist, pulling me into him and attaching his lips to mine. I was surprised but delighted all the same, I pushed my lips firmly against his and a small moan escaped his mouth. Erik's fingers deftly untied my robe, hastily pushing my robe off my shoulders and onto the floor, before he pushed me up against the wall, pinning my body down with his and letting his hands roam everywhere.

He pulled back, breaking off the kiss, and pressed his lips to my neck. I inhaled deeply and arched my back against the wall. I panted into his ear and laced my fingers into his hair, pulling on his locks. His hands traveled down my back, and rested on the back of my thighs. He lifted me up and smiled into our kiss as I tightly wrapped my legs around his waist.

My eyes fluttered closed as Erik kissed every inch of skin he could find, pressing harder against me with his body. Erik was happy. He was getting what he wanted. Me and my powers. I placed my hand that was in his hair, on his chest and shoved him away from me and I dropped to the floor. We were both breathing heavily. He didn't just get to kiss me and think everything was better. That I would just go along with him. He kissed someone else and he wanted to use me as a weapon. My hand whipped out, and I slapped him hard across the face. His head snapped to the side and he rubbed his cheek

I was the only one who got to decide what I wanted and what I did with my abilities. Not Erik. Not Charles.

"I hurt you. And for that I'm sorry," Erik said breathlessly. "But things are going to change, the world isn't going to want us. You need to find out where you stand: with us or the humans. What's coming is bigger than you and me. You need to be ready to set aside our differences so we can work together,"

"Erik, not everybody hates us," I began. "But with this black and white mindset you have they will. Don't make me an enemy Erik," I warned, shaking my head.

"I don't want to be your enemy Claudia," Erik replied quickly. "I never want to _become_ your enemy..." He added softly with vulnerability he rarely let anyone see.

We stood there. Incredibly close. I could smell him. He leaned in and opened the door around me and walked out. He was gone. Biting my lip I scolded myself, for letting everything get to this point. I ran a hand through my hair just as I'm barraged by a feeling of pain and betrayal so intense it takes my breath away. For a moment I want to fall into the door and just curl up in a fetal position, clutching my body to try to drive away the pain, but then I take a deep breath and remember that it's not real.

Not for me, anyway.

I lifted my head up and saw Charles standing at the end of the hallway like I just slapped him, backing up an inch with the force and surprise of the painful realization. He says nothing, but the hurt and sorrow in his bright kind eyes are enough, and I quickly shut the door. I leaned my forehead against the door and closed my eyes. Mumbling curses under my breath I flipped around with my back against the door, covering my face with my hands. I groaned, breathing out.

"Claudia Ava Walker, what have you done?"

* * *

 _ **AN: And the long awaited kiss finally happened!**_


	19. The Embargo Line

_**AN: Thank you to everyone for continuing to support this story!  
**_

* * *

I had woken up early, as I always did. I loved watching the sunrise, the bright sun illuminated my room as I paced worriedly up and down my room. I had every right to be worried, there was the very real threat of possible war at hand. It also didn't help that I was running on three hours of sleep, at most I probably managed to get four hours of sleep. All in all, I'm a jittery mess right now.

"You keep pacing up and down, you'll put a hole in the floor," a voice quipped softly. I whirled around and saw Charles standing in the frame of the door looking dapper in his three piece suit, I didn't even hear the door open. "You're scared," he noted, still using the same tone.

"Of course I'm scared," I repeated almost incredulously, I walked over to the window. "Because what if we can't stop this? What if World War III is inevitable?" I stared out at the burning sun of the morning, overthinking.

Charles' footsteps came closer to me until he stood behind me, surrounding my waist with his left arm.

"Everything will be alright, love," He assured me with a smile.

"I hope you're right," I murmured softly, before I looked over my shoulder at Charles with a confused expression. "I don't understand, why are you being so kind to me? I...I betrayed you yesterday," I sighed, shaking my head.

"Because in some strange way I understand why you did it," Charles began, taking his free hand and pulling some of my hair behind my ear. "I know what kind of woman you are Claudia, you're kind and loving, but you hide behind an ice queen exterior because your afraid of what might happen if you opened yourself up to a man. Your afraid of getting hurt again," He replied, as if the thoughts could not be contained and he just had to voice them.

Charles pulled me closer to him and placed a kiss on my temple before surrounding me with both of his arms.

"The night we first met I couldn't help but observe your behavior. You treated the men like playthings, for you, it was better that way. Keep them at arm's length and you don't get hurt," Charles paused, as I slowly placed my hands on top of his. "You never said you loved me the night we danced in the library. You also avoided saying the word relationship the very next day," Charles recalled softly, and I felt a slight pang of sorrow hit me.

"I should've known that you would've observed that," I sighed in his arms, dropping my head down.

"You're afraid of being vulnerable, Claudia," Charles stated. "You're afraid that history will repeat itself. You're afraid of us _failing_ , but I'll wait for you Claudia," Charles finished, pulling away and held my hand. "Come on, love, we have a long day in front of us," He said starting to walk out of the room.

Everyone met in the main foyer of the mansion, well everyone except Hank, he never appeared. Suspicious and concerned for Hank's abnormal absence we decided to go to his lab and look for him. Pinned to the wooden doors of the lab was a note written in black marker on a piece of paper that read, **_'Gone to the airbase, bring the crate marked X - Hank'_**

Charles pulled off the note, and opened the door. Inside was a disaster. Shattered glass, broken furniture, and things strewn about. Charles began to make his way through the mess and we followed slowly behind him.

"What the hell happened here?" Erik asked, sounding slightly concerned. Partly for Hank's well-being, but mostly as to how he could have made such a mess. I couldn't blame him, I to was concerned as to how Hank had managed this.

Charles ignored him and headed to the crate marked 'X' and opened it, all of us peering inside, revealing a folded pile of navy blue and yellow suits.

"Hank has been busy," Erik commented, looking over Charles' shoulder.

I peered down at the suits, my nose slightly turned up in distaste, "God, yellow doesn't even suit me," I stated, earning a small chuckle from Erik.

"Do we really have to wear these?" Alex questioned, causing me to laugh softly.

Charles didn't look up from the crate, "As none of us are mutated to endure extreme G-force or being riddled with bullets, I suggest we suit up," Charles answered, with a hint of snarkiness.

Charles quickly distributed the suits and we all left the destroyed lab to go get changed into them. Raven, Moira, and I dressed in the ladies room. The suits were made of material that looked like, but wasn't quite leather. But it was surprisingly comfortable. Moira suit's was different, she wore a army green suit issued by good ol' Uncle Sam himself.

You know it was very thoughtful of Hank to go out of his way to make these suits for the team, but he didn't really consider the possibility that the female body was slightly different to the male body. I almost broke a sweat trying to squeeze my hips and upper body into the leathery material. I looked around and could see Raven having the same problem. I left the room to see if the boys were finished getting dressed, only to see that Erik was the first person out. I tried not to stare, but Erik looked even more dangerously handsome.

The bastard.

Silently, I turned around and began to creep back into the room, I would of made it had I not stepped on a particular spot of the floor which let out a loud creak.

"Claudia?" Erik called, and my back stiffened.

I slowly turned on my heel and faced him, "Erik," I greeted, with a tight-lipped smile as I moved slightly closer to him.

"About last night-" Erik began.

"There's nothing to discuss," I interjected, glancing down at my hands to break his gaze. "I think the both of us made that very clear," I continued, lifting my eyes back to Erik and studying his face.

He looked a little tired and I guessed he had trouble sleeping, whether it was from our passionate kiss, argument, or possibly both I couldn't tell.

Erik sighed and just nodded his head, "Fine," Erik breathed out. "But Claudia, I want you to do something today not for me, but for yourself," Erik requested, taking a step forward.

"And what's that?" I asked curiously.

"Don't hold back today,"

~~~x~~~

After everybody was dressed we made our way to the airfield to find Hank. Once we reached the airbase, Hank was still nowhere to be found. What we did see, though, was a sleek and fast looking jet. I stared at the jet in front of me in awe. I knew Hank was a genius, but this was _amazing_.

"Where's Hank?" Raven asked, looking left and right for any sign of the missing scientist.

All of us turned to her not really sure how to answer her question when a voice echoed through the building.

"I'm here," a voice called out gravelly, walking towards us.

It came from right in front of us. In the blinding light from outside, a figure could be seen walking towards us. The figure looked to be taller and slightly bigger than a man. The outline got closer and it didn't look like a man quite as much anymore.

"Hank?" Charles asked, sounding puzzled.

"It didn't attack the cells, it enhanced them," Hank stated, looking down in shame. "It didn't work," Hank said with disappointment obviously in his voice.

Once he got closer, everyone gasped slightly. This didn't look like Hank at all. The 'man' that stood before us had a thick layer of electric blue fur covering his body. He had turned into some sort of animal. Although, Hank's signature glasses were the only thing that made him, well, _Hank_.

Raven reached out to him, "Yes, it did, Hank," Raven told him. "Don't you see? This is who you were meant to be. This is you," She caressed his cheek. "No more hiding,"

Erik cleared his throat, before he clapped his hand against Hank's shoulder, "Never looked better man," Erik commented foolishly.

I had to physically stop myself from slapping a hand to my forehead. Jesus Christ, Erik could be a downright idiot sometimes. Hank's hand swiftly found it's way to Erik's throat, choking him.

"Hank," Charles warned, stepping closer to him.

Hank ignored Charles and leaned closer towards Erik, glaring into his eyes, "Don't mock me," Hank growled, tightening his grip on Erik's neck.

"Hank, put him down immediately, please," Charles ordered. "Hank. Hank!" Charles pleaded some more.

From the looks of it, Hank wasn't letting go anytime soon and Erik's face began to turn a nasty shade of purple. As much as he probably deserved it, this needed to be stopped. I stepped forward from beside Charles and placed a hand on Hank's shoulder.

I spoke calmly, " _Hank, let him go,_ " Hank let go and Erik dropped to his knees.

Erik looked up at Hank, his voice was raspy, "I wasn't," Erik breathed out, and I leaned down to help Erik up.

"Are you all right?" I asked, and he just nodded.

Erik rubbed his throat, "Better now," Erik answered quietly just for my ears to hear.

I rolled my eyes at him, shaking my head slightly as a small smile crept on my lips.

"Even I got to admit you look pretty badass," Alex began, interrupting our side conservation. "I think I got a new name for you, Beast," Alex announced proudly, and Hank gave a growl.

"You're sure you can fly this thing?" Sean asked looking at Hank, then back at the jet.

Hank might have looked like a beast, but at the mention of the jet he was normal, geeky Hank again, "Of course I can. _I_ designed it," Hank answered, and gave him a smug smile before making his way towards the jet, all of us following behind him.

~~~x~~~

We raced over the fleet of ships on the edge of Cuba with Hank in the captain's seat, Moira on the communications controls and the rest of us lined up in the seats on the sides. All of us harnessed in.

Everyone was dead silent in the jet. I could feel the fear and adrenaline from everyone. It was overwhelming, truth be told. I felt like I was going to be sick and that I was going to vomit. Each and every person were thinking of ways this mission could turn south, if we didn't make it better. If we don't pull this off, WWIII could start and everyone would die. This was something everyone and myself couldn't help but think this way.

"It looks pretty messy down there," Hank mumbled as he flew the jet around the Embargo Line.

Looking over at Charles, I watched as he raised his finger to his temple, searching for where we would find Shaw.

Charles' eyes snapped open, "The crew of the Aral Sea are all dead. Shaw's been there," He informed.

Erik leaned up in his seat and gripped the sides, "He's still here, somewhere," Erik insisted.

He was mad. And frustrated.

"He's set the ship on course for the embargo line!" Charles exclaimed, turning to Moira.

"That ship crosses the line; our boys are going to blow it up. And the war begins," She replied worriedly.

"And Shaw wins," I stated grimly.

"Unless they're not our boys," Charles reasoned, and we all looked to him questioningly.

I watched as he raised his finger to his temple again, screwing his face up in concentration. Moments later, chaos surrounded us. A blaring alarm went off before Hank jerked the plane into a roll trying to avoid something that was obviously come straight towards us.

"Hold on!" Charles' warning coming a bit too late.

Hank gave a snarl as tried to adjust the plane. I screamed in panic along with everybody else and felt Alex grip my arm and quickly flipped my hand around grabbed his hand as the jet went totally upside down and then finally righted as I just caught the cargo ship exploding out the window.

"A little warning next time Professor," Hank spoke back as I struggled to take a couple deep breaths.

"Sorry about that," He apologized sounding slightly embarrassed, and looked over to Raven, who had screamed right along with me. "You alright?"

"Yeah," Both she and Sean responded, but it was Sean who looked the most shaken up as he drew in a slow breath.

"You alright?" Alex asked, looking at me.

I breathed deeply once more, moving my hair out of my face, "Never been better," I quipped breathlessly.

Everyone caught their breath, "That was inspired Charles," Moira complimented dryly, while flipping some switches in front of her.

"Thank you very much, but I still can't locate Shaw," He mumbled, still holding his fingers to his temple.

"He probably wearing that helmet of his," I spoke up, gathering Charles attention. "He asked about your whereabouts at the CIA base Charles. I would make an educated guess and assume it makes the wearer immune to telepathic abilities," I informed, focusing my attention on him.

"Then that's going to cause us a big problem," Charles sighed, running a hand through his hair.

Erik was becoming increasingly angry and frustrated, "He's down there. We need to find him now!" Erik urged.

"Hank?" Charles called, looking to their pilot.

"Is there anything unusual on the radar or scanners?" Hank asked Moira.

Moira took a second to respond, "No, nothing," Moira answered, shaking her head.

Hank was exasperated, "Well then he must be underwater," He said begrudgingly. "And obviously we don't have sonar," he continued grumbling.

"Yes we do," Sean looked determined and confident, not cocky, not like the usual Sean. I looked over with a small smile, getting his point.

"Yes we do," Charles repeated, with renewed vigor as he quickly pulled off his headset and started to undo his harness with Erik while Sean was already moved across to the hatch by the handles in the top. "Hank, level the bloody plane," Charles shouted as he and Erik tried to move across the tilted floor, same as Sean had been doing. I felt the whoop in my stomach as he did finally allowing them to walk.

Sean looked alarmed as Erik got closer, "Whoa," Sean called as he turned around and saw Erik moving to cross the hatch to stand on the same side as Charles and him. "You back right off," He said, probably having flashbacks about his second flying lesson where Erik had shoved him off the satellite. I let out a smile and with a small chuckle, Erik raised his hands and took a step back. Sean looked to Hank.

"Beast! Open the Bombay doors," He called up.

With wide eyes I watched as the doors opened, filling the cabin with roaring wind and could only see Charles yelling at Sean, trying to lecture him before he dropped out of the plane not before giving him a pat on the back and he took a step back. Sean positioned himself at the doors and it was then as I looked to Charles' mouth that I could see him counting down before Sean jumped out with a shout. With Hank closing the doors all of us looked to Charles while Moira warned the other ships.

Moira talked into the radio, "Alert the fleet, they may want to take their cans off,"

There was a tense silence and the only noise I could hear was the engine and the wind. Charles yelled, "Banshee's got a location on Shaw!" He turned to look at Erik. "You ready for this?" He asked Erik.

"Let's find out," He nodded and gripped onto the side of the plane as Charles relayed the information to Hank who flipped around the jet. Then slowing down he lowered the jets landing gear with Erik on one of the wheels.

A moment or two passed in silence until I could hear a rumbling sound emerging from the water. It was muffled for quite some time, until it got louder and louder. I looked out the windows and my widened my eyes in amazement, right before my eyes was Shaw's submarine floating in the air. Hank, pushed forward, making us go a little faster and higher taking it out of my view, but when Charles lunged forward I knew that something was wrong.

I felt a sudden sense of dread coming from both Charles and Erik. Something was going wrong. Very, very wrong.

Charles was desperate and I could hear him as yelled for Erik, "Erik, take my hand!"

"Hold on guys, it's gonna get bumpy!" Hank called over the headset.

It was then we all looked forward and saw it was a tornado. Like what happened at the CIA base. Only this time we were on a plane, nothing good could come of this. Quickly, I clamped my eyes shut and worked on taking a deep breath as I felt a familiar energy around my hands and then quickly pushed it around us, making my largest force field ever. Instantly the plane leveled out, but the whirlwind on the outside was eager to get in.

"I can't hold it for long!" I called, my hands beginning to shake. "Get Erik's ass in here now!" I yelled, trying to keep my hands steady.

"Erik, take my hand!" Charles shouted as it started to flicker and the jet bumped a little to the side, jolting us all and knocked my concentration a little more.

"Breathe," Alex spoke from my other side as I felt Hank jolt forward, trying to get out of the storm and it only seemed to fight back. Groaning, I felt the strain and gritted my teeth as it flickered again and we jolted.

"Let it go!" Charles shouted and I took it that Erik was inside and without warning I released the force field, sending us into a spiral.

I flicked open my eyes just as Erik pounced in Charles, pinning him to the ground like a high powered magnet as we crashed to the ground with the sound of screeching metal. The last thing I remembered, before blacking out, was seeing the plane crash onto the beach.

* * *

 _ **AN: Coming up next is the showdown on the beach!**_


	20. The Cuban Missile Crisis

_**AN: You don't know how happy I was when I was able to write this chapter with such ease.  
**_

* * *

I woke up with an acute pain in my head and the bitter of taste blood in my mouth. Letting out a shaky breath, I slowly opened my eyes and everything around me seemed to be inverted. I then realized that I was seated upside down, unbuckling myself I fell to the floor, using my hands to brace myself. I pushed myself up and looked around just as I heard a groan at the back of the jet. Flipping my head to look back I saw both Charles and Erik getting up, once Charles' eyes met mine he quickly made his way over to me.

Charles held his hands out to me, "Are you okay?" Charles asked softly, scanning for any injuries as I pulled myself up.

"Peachy," I answered, with a strained smile.

"Are you sure you can fight?" Charles pressed, worry clearly written on his face.

"Yes, I'm perfectly sure Charles," I replied, pushing my now messy ponytail out of my face. "Now go help the others out," I ordered lightly, pulling my hair back into a neater ponytail.

Charles nodded and flashed a small smile before he moved forward to help Hank and Moira.

Erik walked past me and lightly patted me on the back, "Nice job, _Blythe_ ," Erik smiled to me as he helped Alex up.

"Thanks," I groaned, massaging my neck and the back of my head.

"I read the teleporters mind," Charles prompted, as we all moved around to look out the windows at the wrecked submarine, across the beach from us with Angel, Azazel, and the other man, Riptide, standing in front. "Shaw's drawing all of the power out of his sub. He's turning himself into some kind of nuclear bomb," Charles informed, lips drawn into a thin line.

"We've got no time, the Geiger counter's going out of control!" Moira shouted, staring at the sensors and trying to make sense of them.

"All right Moira, this is what we're going to do," Charles began. "Get on the radio and send both fleet's out immediately," Charles ordered, and Moira went straight to work.

"I'm going in," Erik announced.

"Beast, Havok, Blythe, back him up," Charles continued and got nods back from all of us. "Erik, I can guide you through once you're in. But I need you to shut down whatever it is that's blocking me. Then we just hope to god it's not too late for me to stop him," Charles finished, looking at all of us.

"Got it," Erik nodded and turned towards the massive opening in the back where the jet had ripped apart.

The boys and I all shared a look with each other before we exited the submarine. Erik, Alex, Hank, and I all stepped out the jet, our feet finally touching the sandy beach of Cuba. Stepping out into the open, we lined up with Azazel, Riptide, and Angel as they stood in front of their submarine. The submarine was only a few hundreds yards away from our crashed jet.

We all stared down at each other. Angel fluttered her wings and flew into the air, Azazel unsheathed his two swords, and Riptide created two minature tornadoes that hovered above his hand. Without even a slight hesitation, Alex fired an bright, red energy beam at Riptide, making him fly backwards. He smacked the submarine with a resounding thud and Azazel soon disappeared afterwards.

The battle had begun.

I let out a yelp of surprise as Azazel appeared behind me instantly swinging his sword at my neck. Luckily, I managed to jump backwards, only earning a small scratch on my neck from his sword. As Azazel lifted his other sword up into the air, Beast attacked him, stopping him from taking another swing at me. However, Azazel had another plan and quickly grabbed a hold of Alex with his red tail Hank had grabbed onto the teleporter's shoulder and all three of them were gone.

I watched as Erik ran towards the sub as I stood up. I heard the tell-tale sign of insect wings and turned just in time as Angel attacked me. Ducking and rolling I threw out my hand causing Angel to fly back. Angel righted herself and floated above me, just as Riptide ran out towards me.

I took a quick look around to see if I could find Angel, but she was nowhere to be seen. Well, at least I only had one person to worry about now. But, I had to move fast before he could make another one of his tornadoes and blow me away. I narrowed my eyes allowing my violet aura to flare up around my hands in a show of power, waiting for him to get a little closer.

Once he was closer, I threw sphere of violet quickly threw it at his feet, I didn't want to kill him, but unfortunately this is a war and casualties are apart of it.

The blast sent him in the air and onto his back, I charged straight at him as soon as he landed, focusing my aura into my hand I jumped up and went to land a blow on his face, but he moved out of the way, rolling next to me. He got up and grabbed a hold of my leg, easily picking me up and throwing me to the side. I was able to land on my feet and straighten myself as he made his was closer to me.

Riptide swung punches left and right and I easily dodged them, sending him a few of my own. I had to rely on my hand to hand training that Erik taught me to get me through this as it was too dangerous to try and use my powers as I too could get hurt if I tried to use another telekinetic blast. Though I would never admit it to Erik because I don't want to inflate his already large ego, but I'm very grateful for my training with him for if I hadn't had any, I would have easily been done for.

Riptide went to hit my side and I slid down under him, pushing him from behind so that he'd fall on his stomach. I took this time to send a disk of energy and throw it at a Palm tree in front of us, causing it to fall down towards us. I quickly moved out of the way so that the tree would only hit Riptide, and it completed its purpose of successfully knocking Riptide out.

I looked up at the sound of Sean's shrieking and saw him falling down towards me with none other than Alex hanging onto his arm. Although I was very happy to see that they were mostly unharmed, I was more worried that they were about to land right on me at the moment to be glad to see them. Sean seemed to have one of his wings burned so he had to resort to a crash landing. I held out my hand using my hands to slow their fall, but they were coming too hot and just as I predicted, they landed right on top me.

I let out a groan as Alex's weight was pushed onto me, not gently what-so-ever at that. Sean had landed a little bit away from us, thankfully not on me as well, as Alex had.

Alex got off from on top of me, "Thanks for the help,"

"I try," I joked, as he moved to help me up.

I looked up to see Angel coming straight for us. I quickly maneuvered us and shot bolt towards her before she can reach us, sending her off course. Angel spat acid at me and it ended up hitting my leg, causing me to cry out in pain. Alex whipped around towards Angel and fired a beam in her direction, finishing what I had started, slicing off one of her bottom wings. Flipping around out of control Angel crashed to the ground with a shout, but she was still breathing.

"We work pretty well together don't we," I smirked up at him, ignoring my pained leg with the help of the adrenaline coursing through my veins.

I could hear Sean laughing from the side with relief after seeing Angel land on the ground with a thud after Alex shot her down. Alex helped put out the small flames on my leg while Sean tore away his ruined wing right.

My eye went to Alex's chest and I noticed that his plate was gone, "What happened to your chest plate?" I asked, amazed that he had been able to fire at Angel even without it.

"Angel got a hold of it," he answered gruffly, sounding very displeased as helped me to my feet.

I couldn't help but smile and laugh until a sudden, a sharp, searing pain entered my head. I collapsed to my knees, kneeling in the sand, clutching my hands to my head tightly. My screams grew louder as the pain grew stronger. It felt like something was being pushed through my skull. My screams grew louder and louder as I felt a small object float through my entire skull, it felt like my brain was being ripped right through. It had lasted for only for moment.

But it easily felt like an eternity.

"Claudia? Claudia!" someone was shaking me. "Are you alright? What's going on? What's happening?"

I blinked multiple time as my vision was blurred from the invisible pain before I was finally able to focus on Alex and Sean. The horror was over, but I still clutched my head as I still felt the lingering pain of whatever just tore through my skull. I was at a lost of words, I had no idea what had just happened.

"I don't-I-" I stammered, looking around of what could cause that amount of excruciating pain. "H-Help me up," I breathed out, and Alex and Sean quickly obliged, putting each of their arms around my waist to lift me off the ground.

My mind was clearing up, but the residual mind splitting pain was faintly pulsating in my head. As I recollected my thoughts I mentally did a headcount of everyone on the beach through their emotions. Something wasn't adding up, everyone on the team seemed a little worse for wear, but otherwise fine. Hell, even in _Shaw's_ team were battered themselves...wait a minute.

What about _Shaw_ himself?

"Holy shit...it's Shaw," I gasped, when it hit me not realizing that Raven and Hank were now with Sean, Alex, and I. "He's-" I started, but couldn't the finish the sentence.

The loud sound of metal creaking pierced through the air, looking over to the submarine my eyes widened to the size of saucers at the sight before me. Shaw's corpse was floating in the air, with Erik himself emerging right behind him now wearing Shaw's helmet.

"Today our fighting stops!" Erik shouted, as he levitated Shaw even higher. All of us, including Shaw's team, started walking towards him slowly. As we got closer I could see a line of blood on Shaw's forehead right as Erik let go and he fell to the ground with a sickening crush in front of us making me wince. Slowly, he descended to the ground, looking around at us. "Take off your blinders, brothers and sisters. The real enemy is out there," he pointed to where the ships of the USSR and the US were. "I feel their gun moving in the water; their metal targeting us. Americans, Soviets, _Humans_!" He spat out the last word in disgust, as both Charles and Moira appeared, walking up to join him by the water.

"United in their fear of the unknown. The Neanderthal is running scared, my fellow mutants!" Erik looked over towards Charles and I, he was walking alongside him out to the shore. "Go ahead Charles, Claudia tell me I'm wrong,"

Charles narrowed his eyes at Erik, but reluctantly raised two fingers up to his temple. While I also looked to the water, probing out to sense what emotions were running through the heads of the men on the ships and sadly I felt it. I felt the ships running together and if I concentrated more I could feel the guns turning towards us.

"He's not," I whispered and felt all, Alex's, Sean's, Hank's, and Raven's eyes look to me and then to Charles.

Charles, who slowly lowered his fingers, looked to Moira and nodded. Quickly she took off to the jet, to call off the attack or something. We waited, staring out at the ships when I felt a shift in the air and automatically let out an audible gasp as missiles from every ship fired heading straight for the beach.

We would all be dead.

* * *

 _ **AN: Short compared to my other chapters, but I wanted to break it apart. Two more chapters guys!**_


	21. Who's Side Are You On

_**AN: It all goes down in this chapter, enjoy!  
**_

* * *

We watched as the missiles were inching closer and closer...

But then my senses came back to me, being the only telekinetics present Erik and I raised our hands simultaneously and stopped them, the only difference being that mine exploded making several nearby follow suit. I looked at Erik who sent me a glare, but behind it was an apology. I had a feeling before he would not be coming back with us, and it made me incredibly sad. Erik had stopped the missiles from hitting the beach. They hovered in the air and stayed that way for a moment. Slowly, Erik turned his hand and they all flipped around to fly right back at the ships. My eyes widen as I realized that Erik was going to destroy the ships and kill all the men on them.

"Erik, you said so yourself, we're the better men, this is the time to prove it," Charles began, trying to talk him out of it, but it was hopeless. The missiles were now locked and loaded for their new destination. "There are thousands of men on those ships. Good, honest, _innocent_ men! They're just following orders!" Charles pleaded.

Those words caught Erik's attention and he froze. I could feel how Charles' words affected Erik, as the emotions that seemed to define Erik for all his life rose within me. _Grief_ , _pain_ , and _anger_ all mixed into one. Charles had chosen the wrong words to say to Erik.

"I've been at the mercy of men just following orders," Erik responded softly, he paused before looking directly at Charles. "Never again," He declared, and with a flick of his hand, he shot the missiles towards the ships ready to take the lives of all those men.

The amount of fear coming from all the men there was giving me a headache. I didn't agree with them trying to kill us because they are afraid, but I couldn't stand here and see Erik kill them all either.

"Erik, release them!" Charles ordered, Erik ignored his command.

Momentarily, I watched them fly, amazed at what I was witnessing, but I quickly remembered what I had to do. I suddenly sprung into action and stuck my hands out. I used my telekinesis to halt the missiles, delaying Erik's attack. All eyes went to me, but I remained strong and determined. I focused on making a few missiles detonate, while other missiles started falling into the water one by one, or crashing them together doing whatever I could at this distance to make them explode in the air.

I only managed to take down a limited number of missiles before I felt myself fly back and hit one of the engines that were lodged in the ground. I gave a pained scream as the wind was knocked out of me. Black dots began to dance at the corner of my eyes, but I could still see what was transpiring through my blurred vision.

"No!" Charles yelled, before tackling Erik to the ground.

The missiles stalled for a few seconds, a few even blowing up. Charles attempted to take the metal helmet off Erik, but then Erik hit him in the face with his elbow.

"Don't want to...hurt...you!" Erik grunted, pushing Charles off him. "Don't make me!" Erik warned, now on top of Charles.

Charles reached up to try to remove Erik's helmet, but Erik hit him once again and raised his hand once more, the missiles flying towards the American and Soviet boats.

"Erik...stop!" Charles yelled, his hand reaching out once again.

Erik punched Charles in the face, losing his concentration on the missiles and they began falling, some blowing up in the process. He stood up and raised his hand, stopping the missiles from falling. They flew towards the boats once more. They flew faster, almost reaching the hundreds of boats. My vision was speckled and I was having a hard time breathing, but I couldn't give up.

There were people out there just like Charles said, people about to be killed by the remaining missiles Erik kept a hold on. I couldn't let that happen. I pushed myself up from the sand and capitalized off the opportunity to try to blow up more of the missiles up. I was succeeding again so far, but soon Erik realized what was happening as Alex, Sean, and Hank were walking towards the two fighting men.

"Stay back!" Erik growled, shoving a hand out pushing them away with the metal from their belts. They flew backwards falling onto the ground. Erik then saw what I was doing again.

" _Claudia!_ " he growled again, his eyes narrowing at me.

Suddenly I felt a force on my chest and I, too soon flew back about twenty feet onto the sand with Alex, Hank, and Sean, courtesy of Erik. Groaning, I rolled over onto my stomach as the three of them began to stand, I lifted my head in time to see Erik standing and the missiles were racing towards the ships again.

Suddenly, a gun was being fired.

I snapped my head to look. It was Moira, and she was aiming at Erik. She pulled the trigger, once more shooting at Erik but he easily moved it to the side with a slight movement with his hand. She walked closer to him, shooting some more at him as he easily deflected it.

Then in that one moment...it was all in slow motion. I watched as one bullet deflected by Erik, headed towards Charles as he slowly stood up. Then I heard it, that god awful sound, I would never forget. Charles' let an ear-piercing cry of pain the bullet hit his lower back, causing him to fall back to the the ground as he hit the sand just below him. Erik rushed to Charles and pulled the bullet out. The missiles forgotten, they exploded.

None of the fleets were harmed.

"Charles! No!" I cried, pushing myself up and running towards him.

"Charles I'm so sorry," Erik told Charles. Charles gave a groan, Erik and I glanced at each other before I returned my gaze to Charles. "I said back off!" He yelled at the others, as they tried to get closer to Charles. Erik looked at Moira. He was livid. He wanted to kill her. " _You_. You did this!" Erik looked at Moria, Moira's dog tags sprang around her throat, choking her.

I grabbed his arm and tried to push it down to make him stop, "Stop it, Erik! Let her go!" I yelled.

"Erik. Please," the faint voice of Charles could be hardly heard. "She didn't do this, Erik. You did." Erik looked down to his friend, letting go of Moira as I let go of his arm. She fell on her knees, struggling to breathe.

"Us turning against each other, it's what they want," Erik reasoned said in a solemn tone. "I tried to warn you, Charles. I want you by my side. We're brothers, you and I. All of us together, protecting each other. We want the same thing,"

Charles gave a sad laugh, "My friend. I'm sorry, but we do not," Charles disagreed, shaking his head.

Erik looked at Charles and then he turned to look at me, placing Charles in my arms, it was silent. I wasn't sure how long, but it felt like an eternity, the three of us realizing that we couldn't work together. Looking up at Moira he motioned her forward and she rushed around.

"Charles, I'm sorry. I'm so sorry, Charles," she apologized profusely as she took Erik's place.

"It's alright," he relented with a groan as Erik moved away from us and, towards the two groups that stood by and watched everything unfold.

"This society won't accept us," He pointed towards Moira. "We form our own. The humans have played their hand, now we get ready to play ours. Who's with me?" He held out a hand to Raven. "No more hiding," he added gently.

Slowly she moved forward, looking down to Charles and then back at Erik. I could feel her conflict rise within. She wanted to join Erik, but she was worried for Charles. Raven rushed to Charles and crouched down beside her brother, brushing back his hair.

Charles looked up at her, "You should go with him. It's what you want," Charles said, and I know it pained him to say it.

It sounded like Raven was holding back tears, "You promised me you would never read my mind," Raven sniffled.

"I know. I promised you a great many things, I'm afraid. I'm sorry," He kissed the back of Raven's hand and Raven kissed the top of his head, before looking up to me.

"Take care of him," Raven told me, before looking back down at Charles. "You're good for him, Claudia," She admitted, and for the first time in awhile a genuine smile appeared on her face.

Erik pulled Raven up by her hand. Riptide, Azazel, and Angel walked over to Erik, talking his hand as well. It was only then that Erik looked towards me. He held out a hand to me, separating his hand from Raven's.

"Claudia," his voice pleaded with me. "Come with me. Join me," He held his hand out to me.

My breath got caught in my throat at the gesture, my heart pounding in my chest as I looked down to the man lying on the ground below me. Charles' hand found mine and he interlocked our fingers together, taking a deep breath.

"Claudia, you of all people deserve happiness after _all_ you've been through," Charles whispered, slipping into the soft and calm voice he uses when he's around me. "You know that I love you Claudia, I will always love. Remember what I said this morning? I will wait for you, even if that means you choose to walk a different path than mine," Charles heaved, as I softly pushed his some of his hair back.

I briefly closed my eyes, sighing heavily before I slipped my hand out from Charles' and stood up, walking over to Erik.

"Erik, you're unlike anyone I've ever met before," I looked at my friend with a kind smile, yet my eyes held a sad look in them. "You understand me better than anybody, we both know loss, pain that never seems to go away, and the suffocating need for revenge..." I trailed off, taking his hand and Erik's face lit up. "And that's why I _can't_ go with you," I finished, closing his hand into a fist.

"Claudia, I need you," Erik begged, looking at me desperately.

I reached out and gently cupped his cheek, "I'm sorry, Erik. I can't," I whispered, shaking my head. "We're too much alike in some aspects...and well, too different in others. Our views on humans being one of them," I explained, in a soft a tone. Gently, I used my thumb to brush Erik's cheek. "May we meet again, Erik," I smiled sadly, leaning forward I pressed a lingering kiss to his cheek before stepping away from him and kneeling down next to Charles again, gripping his hand.

Erik took Raven's hand again, "And Beast," Raven called out to Hank, who looked up to her. "Never forget! Mutant and proud!" Raven called out, Hank looked away and gave a growl of disgust at Raven's betrayal, but really his heart dropped.

His heart was _breaking_.

Erik and I glanced at each other one last time, the expression that was etched onto his face was one of disappointment. And _hurt_.

Erik nodded to Azazel and there was a _poof!_ The new team of mutants disappeared into a cloud of red smoke. He was gone. As soon as they vanished, Hank, Alex, and Sean rushed over to us.

"Help me out! Come on," Moira called to them, she looked back down at Charles. Hank got to us first, taking hold of Charles. "I'm gonna get you to a hospital," Moria began to adjust Charles so that Hank could lift him. Reaching up Charles tried to get up before letting out a loud shout of pain.

"Wait," Hank held out a hand to stop Moria. Charles tried to say something, his breathing heavy. "Charles, don't move, okay?" He cautioned him with worry.

"Charles?" I called, squeezing his hand.

He settled back, "I won't. Actually..." Charles stammered. "I can't feel my legs,"

Moira was disbelieving, "What?"

"I-I-I can't—" Charles was having trouble coming up with the words. "I can't feel my legs. I can't feel my legs. I can't feel my legs, Claudia. I can't feel my legs," He repeated, tears falling quietly down his cheeks and I looked down at him with a pained look and clutched his hand tighter. I was at a loss for words. "I can't feel my legs," a helpless look in his blue eyes.

Moira looked around in disbelief before following after and leaving only Charles with his look of disappointment.

* * *

 _ **AN: One more chapter to go, can you believe it?**_


	22. Someone to Watch Over Me

**_AN: And here we are folks the last chapter of a long journey. Thank you to everyone who has followed, favorite, and read this story.  
_**

* * *

 _Four weeks later..._

"In this week of Thanksgiving, there is much for which we can be grateful. As you look back to where we stood, only four weeks ago, the unity of this hemisphere, the support of our allies, and the calm determination of the American people; these qualities may be tested many more times. In this decade..." Stooping down, I flipped off the TV.

Moving back over to the mirror I ran my hands down the long sleeve burgundy wiggle dress that complimented my figure well. A sigh escaped my lips as I stared at the room that has been my home for the past few weeks. I looked in the vanity one last time, adjusting the beret that rested on my head. Quickly slipping on my heels, I turned around to grab my suitcase only to find Charles waiting at my door. I stopped mid-step looking at him in his sharp, blue suit, sitting in a brand new wheelchair.

It was quite unfortunate for something like this to happen to Charles, to be paralyzed from the waist down and never be able to walk again. To now be wheelchair bound for the rest of his days.

"Charles, I-" I began until Charles stopped me, by lifting his hand.

"You're going to leave," He said quietly, wheeling himself into my room completely.

"Yes," I sighed, pushing a curl strand behind my ear. "I was," I admitted, placing my suitcase back down.

He tried to smile, "Right before Thanksgiving? And you weren't going to tell me?" He asked, as I sighed again with a nod.

"I figured you would be fine without me," I explained, walking closer to him. "I taught the boys all they need to know about cooking," I quipped, trying to muster up a smile. "And I did what you and Erik recruited me for, Charles. We saved the world and stopped WWIII. But everything still ended...terribly. Erik killed Shaw, and became him all at the same time," I finished, crossing my arms and shaking my head.

"Do you miss him?" Charles spoke again softly.

I took a deep breath, closing my eyes as my head suddenly filled itself with half-images and memories of Erik and I, all the times we exchanged our playful banter or the times we confided within each other about our secrets.

Opening my eyes I stared back at Charles, "Sometimes...I miss...I miss how everything was before," I admitted, biting my lip before I cleared my throat and changed the subject. "But it doesn't matter anymore now does it? He's not here, and he's not coming back. I have to focus on the present like my job, I still have my leave of absence at the practice. I think I'm going to travel for a while," I explained trying to smile at him. "I'm twenty-two, I need to live a little and do something for _me_ for once," I joked, but a tear fell down my cheek and I wiped it away quickly.

"Come. Sit," Charles said, patting his lap.

I arched my brow, "Who do you think are? Santa Claus?" I joked, but complied with his request and sat down.

"A handicapped version," Charles quipped softly. He took my hand in his, interlacing our fingers. "I hope you're not blaming yourself about anything that happened," Charles said, concern lining his features.

I let out a humorless chuckle, "I'm not," I answered, looking into his eyes. "Deep down, I knew that I couldn't change Erik's mind about killing Shaw or his attitudes of humans," I explained, a sigh escaping me. "Neither of us could," I stated, Charles smiled at me.

His smile was so calm and reassuring that a bit of a peaceful sensation washed over me. Well, his handsome, chiseled face also had something to do with it as well.

"Well, I'm happy that you're not-"

I cut him off, "But, Erik was right, the world isn't going to want us," I interjected, and Charles' smile dropped a little. "The world doesn't want a lot of people now, people like _me_ ," I finished, raising my hand and watching as the sun made my skin glow. "I don't belong here Charles," I finished, shaking my head again.

"You don't want what Erik wants, Claudia," Charles reminded, pulling my hand to his lips and pressing a kiss to my palm.

"I know Charles. But, yet I still feel as though I don't belong here," I repeated, a sad smile appearing on my face.

"Yes you do," Charles protested. "Claudia, why would say something like that?" Charles questioned, frowning which marred his handsome face.

There was a moment of silence before I spoke again.

"Charles, I am like a grenade, anything that is good that comes into my life is destroyed. I...I don't want that for you, you deserve better Charles. Much better,"

A frown formed on Charles' face again, "You're wrong Claudia," Charles disagreed, shaking his head this time. "You are the _best_ thing that has come into my life," Charles proclaimed, placing my hand back on my lap and looking up at me.

I scoffed and shook my head in disbelief, looking out the window as the laughter of Sean and Alex made its way from outside to where we were.

"For someone like _me_ to be the best thing to enter your life Charles...you ought to raise your standards," I deadpanned, with a mirthless smile on my face before I felt two fingers moving my face forward again.

Charles forced me to look at him, my heart skipped a beat as his penetrating blue eyes looked right through my brown ones.

"You do that a lot," He murmured, brushing the pad of his thumb against my cheek. "You're always so self-deprecating," Charles noted softly.

"Call it a coping mechanism," I guessed, shrugging my shoulders and giving him a lopsided smile. "For everything I've been through," I added, placing my hands on his shoulders and giving them a soft squeeze.

"Is that what this is about?" Charles asked, knitting his eyebrows together. "Claudia, your past does not define you," Charles assured, lifting his hand to mine and giving a squeeze of his own.

"But for me it does," I disputed, running my hands down his arms. "When I first agreed to help you and Erik fight Shaw to potentially save the world, I thought I might find some redemption in it. You know, maybe balance out all the horrendous things I've done...because I don't know if there's actually any good in me or that I've been tricking myself all these years into not believing that I'm not a monster," I revealed, my eyes glazing with tears threatening to spill out.

"Claudia, there is so much good in you, even if you don't believe it," Charles remarked, placing a hand on my cheek, wiping the tears with his thumb. "You saved _thousands_ of lives in Cuba. You've could watched those missiles and let them hit the ships, but you didn't," Charles reminded, now wrapping his arms around my waist. He rested his forehead against mine our noses brushing against each other. "You have a heart Claudia, you care about what happens to those you around you," he continued softly.

"Charl-"

"Do you trust me?" Charles breathed out quickly.

"Of course I do," I answered, without hesitation.

I trusted Charles more than anyone I had met during my time here at the mansion.

"Then believe me when I say you belong here, you proved that when you willing left your life of comfort to go on what seemed like a suicide mission," Charles said, his lips curved into a small grin. "Things will get better, Claudia, they will," Charles stated, in a comforting and reassuring tone. "And I would very much like to see those days with you," he added, our eyes locking onto each other. "Please stay, my love," Charles pleaded, letting out a shuddering breath. "I can't lose you _too_ ," he whispered, reaching his hand up to stroke my face once more.

He fingers trailed down to my chin, gently holding it with his thumb and forefinger before pulling me to him for a soft kiss. I placed my hand on his cheek, deepening the kiss as ours moved in sync with each other. Charles moved his hand from my chin to the back of my head and his other arm tightened his grip around my stayed like that for a moment longer until our lips slowly disconnected.

My brown irises looked into his clear blue ones, as we breathed raggedly, faces flushed and eyes shining. And it was at that moment I made my decision on what I wanted to do.

"You won't," I promised, my hand slipping down to trace the curve of his jaw.

"What?"

"You won't lose me Charles," I repeated, a laugh bubbling from my lips.

Charles cupped my face with his soft hands, his face seemed to brighten up a little, "You'll stay?" he asked, sitting up in his chair.

"I rather like the idea of having someone to watch over me," I mused, a smile beaming from my face.

"God, I love you Claudia," Charles grinned brightly.

"And I _love_ you Charles Xavier," I confessed, laying my head down to rest in the crook of his neck.

* * *

 _ **AN: And that's all folks!**_ ** _I hope you enjoyed reading this story as much I enjoyed writing it. I don't know if I'll write a sequel because life is getting busy, but hey you never know.  
_**


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